Metronome
by Moi Fah
Summary: Chaos has been sealed away and peace reigns; the Sailor Wars are over. However, with the barriers between Ningenkai, Reikai, and Makai beginning to dissolve, it may be up to the senshi to stop the realms from merging altogether. And what of Hotaru's strange dreams? Just what was a hiruseki stone...and who was the strange boy she saw in her dream? H/H pairing. Does not follow DT arc
1. The First Dream

**Title: Metronome**

**Crossover: Sailor Moon/ Yu Yu Hakusho**

**Universe: I'm taking things from both anime and manga of both series.**

**Timeline: Post Stars season/ Pre-Dark Tournament**

**Pairing(s): Hotaru/Hiei (probably won't be anymore)**

* * *

A room. Walls, cold and white...small, closed space.

She carefully arose from the floor where she had been. How she had gotten here, what had happened beforehand...none of it she remembered, there was only the room.

It was quiet.

Expressionless, she looked around. She felt no fear, no anxiety, at the realization of her sudden surroundings. Directly across from her she spied a doorknob, her exit from this small white prison. It was white like the room, only discernible as a door by the knob that protruded from it. She gently grabbed it and pulled, twisting it every which way but to no available. If someone had put her in here they certainly didn't want her finding her way out.

She backed away slowly, looking around the room again, the white a near blinding light to her purple eyes. She trudged around the room looking it over, mouth pursed into a straight, thin line as she did so. It didn't feel like the safest place to be in, but neither did she feel any danger in this place.

It appeared that the door that was melded into the wall's white hue was her only exit and walked back over to it. She pulled the knob again and twisted it again, this time, it clicked and she was released.

The door creaked open as she pushed, no blinding light meeting her on the other side as she had anticipated. Instead, the world on the other side of the door faded to a light gray and other pastel-hues she couldn't name. The world looked old...was this the past? But where in the past, she questioned looking around her...there were some trees to her right, to her left a cliff that trailed off downwards to a rocky ravine she was sure...she didn't want to hazard a guess by leaning over to look. Turning to look behind her, the door had vanished and the white room along with it. No sense in turning back now, especially not with the door gone.

Walking forward, her bare feet meeting the cold ground of the rocky cliff on which she stood, the sound of rushing water entered her ears. A river nearby most like, she remarked, looking to her left again...someone was there. Quickly did she hide her person behind a nearby tree...it wasn't the best camouflage with its dead and rotting trunk and lack of any noticeable limbs but it would do.

The person who sat by the cliff's edge was a boy with spiky hair, color wasn't an option but she could tell it was darker hued just as her own. It was hard to gauge his height or his age since his back was turned to her, but he appeared not to notice her for the moment.

She stared at his backside, eyes locked on him as her expression finally changed to one of surprise and curiosity. What was this boy doing in this place?...wherever 'this place' was exactly. She had yet to discover that crucial clue.

Suddenly, her body tensed, the hair on her arms jolting up as an electric surge went up and down her spine...someone or something was coming closer...and fast. She ducked again behind the tree trunk, only this time, it was at an angle neither the boy or newcomer should see her...she certainly hoped so.

What appeared next was a monstrosity of a creature...a demon. He howled, possibly a war cry, and with a lumbering sprint charged with weapon held high straight at the boy. She turned her head, things seeming to run in slow motion now, to warn the boy but he was already on his feet; his own weapon drawn.

What happened next was a blur of a battle, her own eyes in this human form too slow to catch on. Had she been transformed and in a celestial body, now that might have been a different story...she might could have at least seen the boy's face. Either way, he was fast...very fast...inhumanly fast. He must be a demon also, she decided, although he was more human-like than his opponent who, despite his giant weapon, was quick enough in his own right.

Suddenly, there was a sparkle...was it a tear? A drop of blood? She moved out from behind the trunk to see better. Something about it...she had to know. The boy stopped his movements, realizing what she must have and locked eyes with her. If everything hadn't already felt like it had slowed down, now would have been the apt time. She quickly tried to register all of his features before she bolted from behind the tree, quickly trying to reach out for his fallen object: a necklace with a single gemstone attached to it. It sparkled despite the new-found gray coloring of her world, and she knew it was special...it had to be protected.

She was a slow runner but she could get there in time if neither combatant halted her, and luckily both seemed too occupied with battle. She watched as the necklace bounced along the ground before finally rolling off the cliff side, just out of her fingers reach, and plummeted to the river below. She panted small breaths, staring wide-eyed down into the canyon...how could she have failed at such a simple task? Would the boy blame her for not catching it now? Would he hate her?

That same surge from earlier traversed her spine and she turned, short black hair forming a halo around her head in mid-air. The demon creature was there, ready to attack her...she couldn't defend herself without her henshin stick and she wasn't going to depend on the boy. She closed her eyes and waited for the weapon to fall on her...but it never did.

The cliff edge, unstable, collapsed beneath her timid weight and she fell just as the necklace had.

When she awoke, she found herself still within that gray-colored, pastel world. If this had been a dream, shouldn't the fall have woken her up? What about the old wives tale about falling in a dream; if you failed to wake up before you reached the ground, you were dead in real life. Taking who she was into consideration, this was not an unlikely ideal.

She lay trapped between rocks in the river bed, her arms having snagged at an angle that supported her tiny weight and held her there. Who could tell how far she floated down stream, if she had at all. And what of the necklace? Had it too become caught? Cautiously unwinding her limbs, she submerged herself into the waters of the rather deep but slow moving river. She looked along the bottom, spying something shiny as she did so. Although she was rather sore, the fall had left her virtually without a scratch.

She swam to the bottom and reached out for the object, drawing back to find only a glinting pebble in her palm. This was not the necklace she had seen. Disposing of the rock, she swam back to the surface, taking a graceful gulp of air as she did so and continued swimming to the riverbank. Perhaps the boy had followed her somehow and retrieved the necklace himself but something told her it was unlikely.

She honestly had no business looking for it...a lost trinket from a stranger was really not a problem she had to deal with, but still, she felt compelled to find it. Something powerful was drawing her to it.

Her purple eyes scanned the slow moving river and its other bank...it had to be here. Surely that gemstone was large enough to keep it from being cleanly swept away, but it was such a tiny thing...there, on the other side of the river, mixed with a cluster of rocks. It had to be there. There would be no mistake of it, no misleading shimmer of a mere pebble.

She stepped gingerly back into the river, perfectly content with walking the length had the river been shallow enough to walk in. She paddled her way over, resting a hand on one of the rocks in the cluster. Of course, it had somehow gotten stuck...the flimsy cord the boy had been using as a makeshift necklace had gotten tangled. The only way to release it would be to cut the gemstone from its binding...but with what? Clad only in a simple shift, she carried no weapons on her person, nor were there any in site. She wasn't strong enough to pull it off, a metal clasp on top of the gemstone made sure of that. The only thing she could think of would be her teeth...the cord was weak with wear, it shouldn't be too much of a problem to break it.

Carefully, she placed her lips around the gemstone, teeth set on either side hitting the rope. Then, she pulled. She could feel part of it giving away but it would take more than a single pull. She paused a minute for breath and rest, readjusted her mouth's grip, and pulled again. She did this a number of times over, convincing herself that the stone was firmly stuck until finally it pulled free with a fierce snap of the cord.

She might have swallowed the stone in surprise had a tiny piece of cord not remained wrapped around the metal clasp. Holding it within her teeth, she swam to the closet bank and rested, dropping the stone into her palm. She breathed heavily, tired from her retrieval, and stared at the tiny stone that lay in her hand. It was very pretty, had an unbelievable shine to it...it felt otherworldly, and yet...it felt very warm. The stone itself was cold like ice, but the aura it gave off was hot like fire. It was so...so beautiful.

Her eyes began to feel heavy then, something was pulling her back...away from this gray world. She didn't fight it, merely clutched the stone within her hand and succumbed, collapsing onto her side into what looked like a deep slumber.

* * *

Hotaru awoke with a gasp, sitting upright in bed.

Her alarm clock was ringing, having slept through the appointed time at which she had set it. Her whole body was wracked with sweat and she felt weak. She quickly turned off the clock and flipped the covers back to get some air.

She glanced down at her hand...it felt warm, but there was nothing in it.

As a senshi, she was no stranger to the odd dream every now and then, quite often anticipating them whether they be signs of things to come or memories from a past life. Due to her own special powers as Saturn, she could also tell when calamity was to appear just as she had when Chaos possessed Galaxia. Luckily, her warning had not gone unheeded by the other senshi and with the banishing of Chaos, the world was once again safe; an end to the Sailor Wars had finally come.

Despite all of that, dreams and memories continued to flood in every now and then...perhaps preparing her for the role she would take on in the 31st century as a guardian senshi of the new princess, Chibi-Usa. However, that was still many years from now.

And...why would she be dreaming about a boy and a gemstone? What purpose did the two of them serve?

The stone had nothing to do with her she was certain. The Taioron Crystal given to her by her father while under his own possession had shattered at the defeat of the Mistress 9; the Deathbusters power source being no more. Her own Saturn Crystal, granted to her by the spirit of Saturn, remained strong within her, ready to activate again once her powers were needed. It had only been two years after the defeat of Chaos...would the fourteen year old really be needed again?

Hotaru knew she couldn't think like that and moved to get dressed for school. Today would be a normal day, nothing to worry about at all. If there was something to worry about then Saturn would surely appear and warn her. It was odd to think at first that she wasn't exactly like the other senshi. Saturn existed separately from her it seemed...Hotaru could remember everything that happened while she transformed and whatever happened to be going on while she was transformed as Sailor Saturn and yet...she never truly felt like herself. There seemed to be someone there just below the surface, helping her out. Hotaru was strong in her own right, her healing powers nothing to be overlooked, but with Saturn's help she was unstoppable. Perhaps the relationship could most closely be related to that of Sailor Moon and Neo-Queen Serenity. They were the same...and yet not.

After she'd prepared herself for school, she headed downstairs. The house was empty, dark, and quiet...it would have been unnerving if she hadn't already been used to it. Setsuna would be at the Time Gates, while Haruka and Michiru traveled abroad for concerts and races. Setsuna would most likely be home to check on her later, the girl deciding it best not to tell the older woman that she was late for school this morning.

Walking past a tall grandfather clock, she read the time: 10:15. Not too bad, she had only missed homeroom and 1st period. She headed into the kitchen although she didn't feel like eating, settling with a glass of water as her breakfast. It wasn't too far from lunch but the feeling that rested in her stomach told her she wouldn't be eating any time soon.

Grabbing her things, she headed out the front door, a slow and steady walk towards the Mugen school.

* * *

"A little late this morning were we?" Setsuna questioned from behind her book, the older woman nestled comfortable into an armchair in the living room.

"Are you...mad?" Hotaru questioned, no sense in acting surprised...Setsuna always knew everything whether she let on about it or not. The girl was even tempted to ask how she knew but learned rather quickly that that was just silly to ask questions of that nature to Setsuna.

"Mad? I'm more concerned about you," the woman replied, laying her book down into her lap, "Did something happen this morning? It's not like you to be late for school or sleep in. Something on your mind maybe?" Hotaru's eyes wavered as she stared at one of her adoptive parents from across the room. Setsuna knew a lot, but the woman couldn't read dreams...that realm didn't belong to her. If Hotaru chose to lie about it, then Setsuna would have literally no way of finding out. She reached a tiny palm out to grasp the door-frame in which she stood,

"Have you...do you know of a type of stone that feels both hot and cold at the same time?"

"A stone?" Setsuna responded, confused, as Hotaru slightly grimaced and averted her eyes downwards. "That's seems a little random...what brought all this on?"

"I had a dream about that kind of stone...I touched it in my dream and that's how it felt. Do you think it means anything?" Hotaru questioned, melancholy attempting to cloud her face. She didn't tell Setsuna everything...the rest didn't seem too important for now. She barely knew anything about the boy to mention him.

"I can't say I've heard of anything like it...maybe it's something you read in a book?" the woman smiled playfully trying to keep the mood light. Hotaru nodded although she didn't agree...couldn't be that. If only she had seen it in color the stone might have been easier to describe. Then again, maybe it really was nothing...her mind creating random things in her dreams maybe.

Setsuna watched with a motherly look as the younger girl headed upstairs to her bedroom, but squinted her eyes into a glare once the girl was out of sight. Something wasn't right here...why did that sound so familiar? Quietly she arose from her seat and headed towards the downstairs library she had claimed as her own. The Outers mansion had quite a number of rooms, but she only needed a small space to get her work done...her reading material on the other hand needed quite a bigger room.

The stone in question...was it something do with the senshi? All of the senshi possessed their Sailor Crystals, and both generations of Moon Princesses owned a ginzuishou. It didn't add up since the Sailor Wars were over, no more power-ups would be required or even granted by their guardian planets. So what could it be then? Rocks of the Earth normally only felt one way and didn't hold an other-worldly feel about them either...the tone in which Hotaru described it made her sound afraid of it, hinting to Setsuna there must be some power to it.

She quickly browsed volumes that ranged from topics a-z; psychology, philosophy, medicine, history, biology, etc. She only placed the most reliable sources on her shelves for these areas of study. At the back of her collection, tucked into a corner, were books on the supernatural. She was a senshi and had seen plenty of unusual phenomenon, but she was also a scientist in her spare time...not to mention, the authority on the realm of the supernatural simply did not rest in human hands. Very few reliable works by humans sat here...all of the others simply read like comic or joke books to her. The real ones were written by those on a higher plane, some even by demons themselves.

Pulling one out, she skimmed and scanned pages. It was a hand-drawn manual by an explorer who had accidentally stumbled into the Makai world, or Demon World as it was known. Makai was certainly not a place for humans and it was miracle the man had survived as long as he had, but of course, it did help that the man unknowingly had demon blood flowing through his veins. Weak though it may have been, it was still there. He became more and more fascinated by the world and began to record everything he saw including the different types and powers of the demons he saw there. Obviously, the volume was the only one of its kind and it was nowhere near completion...just a few silly scribbles by a nameless explorer who unfortunately met his end in the world he began to fancy so much.

Finally, Setsuna came across what she was looking for. It was a fresh chapter on his encounter with a blue-haired maiden who called herself Yukina. She claimed to be an ice demon, a kōrime, and...of course the man spent another page and a half marveling at how the woman was able to control her pronounced element over ice. Once back on topic, she continued to read closely...the woman mentioned she was searching for her brother, never gave a name, but said that she would know it was him as long as he was wearing a special necklace. In the corner of the cracked parchment paper of the book was a small observation drawing; a small circle attached to a piece of string.

Hotaru hadn't given much description on how the stone looked, but Setsuna was beginning to find the similarities a little strange. A female demon who could control ice who carried a mysterious gemstone with her...

The explorer went on to say that she would not allow him to touch it for it was too precious an object, but said that despite the naturally cold temperature around her, he could feel the slight presence of heat radiating from the necklace.

It was truly strange that Setsuna had thought about this old journal...she picked it up as more of a convenience than anything else. Although it wasn't truly her place to worry about it, she knew well enough that Makai and the human world were not to mix. And throwing the realms of hell and paradise into the mix only made the problem a lot greater. There were reasons the worlds had boundaries and barriers surrounding them...they were simply not meant to mix. Could Hotaru's dream mean that something was to happen to those barriers? Setsuna couldn't stand by and let that happen.

The green-haired woman bit her thumb, focusing the weight of the old journal onto one hand. Perhaps it said more, some kind of clue yet to found and so she read on...

The explorer inquired more about the stone, obviously clear that the stone was rather important. Yukina explained to him that it was called a _hiruseki_ stone. It was a precious stone that a mother kōrime cried (the tear she would shed would then crystallize into stone) for her child after they were born. The woman explained that she had a twin brother who had disappeared from their homeland, thus explaining her journey to find him. All she knew of him was that he too would carry a _hiruseki_ stone just as she did; the other kōrime had never left their homes as she had effectively ostracizing herself as well.

More ramblings after this...Setsuna flipped a few more pages filled with sketches of the stone and its proposed powers. The book ended after this, Setsuna knowing the ending of the explorer was actually the ending of his book. It was his inquiring about _hiruseki_ stones after this that became his undoing. That's right...now it was coming back to her. _Hiruseki_ stones were precious not only to their owners for its sentimental value but to its monetary value by others...asking around about one would only invite trouble in Makai. He'd been ganged up on and was demanded to reveal the location of the kōrime and refused.

Setsuna closed the volume and replaced it on the shelf. A story that would never be told, huh...

She stood motionless in front of the bookcase. Should she tell Hotaru or not? Would this come back to bite her in the end...would it put Hotaru in danger? It was unlikely that the girl could find anything on her own with the small bit of information she had. Humans would most likely laugh it off saying such a stone didn't exist or say that what she had said made no sense. She would be in no danger by asking around in the human world. Still...was there some outside force to deal with here? Saturn would have warned them and she would have seen a disturbance in the Time Gates if so.

Setsuna sighed, she would have to tell Hotaru about this if only to quell the girl's fears and concerns. Setsuna would have to keep an eye on her, regardless.

* * *

_**A/N: And that's where I decided to end the first part of this. It's one of the many Hotaru/Hiei ideas I have and never posted but I really liked this one since I wrote it in a much darker tone than my other stories and it will probably remain pretty dark-toned for awhile. It might be confusing at times too but bear with me, everything will make sense in the end. YYH characters are set to show up next chapter.**_


	2. Hiruseki Stones

_**A/N: We're going back in time a bit so bear with me; queue the flashback/dream sequence!**_

* * *

Keiko Tomoe fingered the crystal that hung from around her neck. It was a rather large crystal, rather intricately designed with all its points and odd shape; it definitely wasn't a piece you'd see people wearing out on the streets. Still, the crystal was extremely precious to her...a gift from her husband Souichi. She rarely went anywhere without it although she didn't always wear it, the crystal being a little too awkwardly shaped for everyday wear in which case she would keep it tucked into her purse or jewelry box or generally somewhere close and convenient.

Souichi told her that he'd found the crystal and bought it more on a whim than anything else, saying that the way it sparkled in the sunlight reminded him of her eyes and smile. She was so happy when he gave it to her, especially since his return marked the end of his trip with one his oh-so-many science communities. She hated being alone in such a big house. She'd been pondering ways to tell him that ever since she'd become pregnant but never got the chance. Souichi had, of course, gone to great lengths to insure his house was well-protected with security systems regardless; couldn't have someone breaking in and stealing his research, especially not when he was getting closer to the title of authority on genetic researching.

Still, Keiko found herself feeling uneasy...scared, like a force was looming over the house. She for one never believed in the supernatural and immediately ruled that option out first. She ruled out the baby secondly...pregnancy was a very natural thing, and while she was scared at the idea of becoming a mother that just wasn't it either. She couldn't put any unneeded stress on the baby and tried to quell her fears. Mostly, she was just glad that Souichi had returned and would be staying for awhile.

She loved to wear the crystal when he was away, she felt that it kept them closer together. It...calmed her. But as soon as all of his traveling luggage was inside the house, she took off the crystal and laid it safely inside her jewelry box for the next time.

Even with the crystal's calming effects and Souichi's return, she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she felt.

* * *

She awoke alone, her lungs full of smoke and the air filled with flames. She choked, gasping for air as she fell from her bed. Closer to the floor, the air had filled out and no smoke remained, allowing her to deeply breathe in gracious gulps of air.

The house was on fire.

Her first thought was Hotaru, the small girl supposedly asleep in her bedroom down the hall.

Keiko herself was in the guest room, a mild squabble between her and Souichi had forced her into sleeping here for the night and locking the door. How could this have happened? Was the stove on? Was there an arsonist in the neighborhood? All of these thoughts and many more plagued her as she scrambled across the floor and headed towards the door. Without thinking, she reached out for the knob and burnt her hand, immediately pulling back in pain with a yelp.

Looking around the room, she searched for something to use...if she wrapped the bedsheets tightly enough around her fingers she should be able to unlock the door and gain exit. The sheets had miraculously been untouched by the flames and she quickly wound the thinnest part of it around her hands multiple times until they looked bulbous and unnatural. The knob was no longer hot to her hands, the sheets absorbing most of the heat, and with a ram of her weight against the door, forced it open.

The house was completely ablaze. The air was caked with black smoke, flames crawled and pooled all over making any step made a cautious and dangerous one.

"Hotaru!" she called out raspy, a forearm coming to cover her eyes. Almost immediately did she start to unwind the bed sheets from her hand and discard them, they would only serve to ignite her should she stray too close to the fire. Besides, Hotaru's door was always open due to the girl's fear of the darkness. "Hotaru!" she called again, stumbling her way through the corridor, never once thinking that the child may have escaped on her own or that her husband might have rescued her...a maternal instinct is a powerful thing.

Making it to the girl's room, Keiko coughed and sputtered again, the smoke near overwhelming by now. The room was empty, the woman able to see the turned back covers despite the poor viewing situation. Souichi must have taken her, the woman sighed in relief, now determined to make her own way out of the house...there just wasn't any way she could have left without knowing that her child was safe.

She was so close, just make it down the stairs, through the living room, and then out the door to safety and freedom with her family. The smoke was going to take its toll on her lungs but she didn't mind...Hotaru was safe, that meant Souichi had to be safe too.

A single step on the stairs was all she remembered after that. A single step onto the staircase and the sound of creaking wood before the structure collapsed and took her down with it.

* * *

Hotaru awoke with a gasp, sitting upright in bed, her face stricken with pure horror. Sweat had beaded along her forehead and tears poured freely from her eyes.

The woman in the dream had been her mother. Not her true mother perhaps, but the human mother who had given birth to her reincarnation. Although they had not been granted much time together while the woman was alive, Hotaru loved her...how could she not?

"Oh..." she moaned, crawling out from under her covers and doubling over, burying her face into the sheets. She cried long and deep, crying out 'mama' as she did so...this feeling in her chest was so painful. Why show her all of this? What was this going to accomplish other than making her feel deep pain? She had always known how her human mother had passed...it didn't mean however that she knew exactly how or was able to feel how the woman felt in her last minutes. If it...if it weren't for her than maybe her mother would be...

Hotaru arose from the covers for a breath of air, her face a wet mess from sobbing uncontrollably. She kept a box of tissues by her bedside and turned to reach for one, a note catching her eye as she did so. Wiping her eyes, she unfolded the note to find information that had been written in Setsuna's unmistakeable hand. It was about the stone from her previous dream although Hotaru wondered what good it would do her now. She might as well read it at least since Setsuna did go to the trouble of entertaining her bizarre dream.

With a flick of the switch, she turned the bed side lamp on. The note was short and to the point, saying the stone in question was most likely a gem called a _hiruseki_ stone. It was strange that the note was as short as it was...almost like Setsuna wasn't telling her something. That was silly to think about since Setsuna practically knew everything about anything. Maybe she just wanted Hotaru to go off and search on her own...like some kind of test.

Unlike yesterday, she had awoken quite early, the only bad thing being was that this was now the weekend. She certainly didn't plan on going back to sleep or any earlier than she needed too...there was no telling what she'd see in her dreams this time. And...why were these dreams even coming to her? These dreams were personal, they sparked no warning of global danger or a threat to humanity; there was only a strange stone, a mysterious boy, and the death of her human mother she'd come to grips with as a child. None of it really made sense. Maybe if she found out a little more about this stone and what it was connected to, then maybe it would help connect her own missing pieces.

* * *

After lunch, she headed out to town to begin her research. The library, while one of her favorite places, would probably have very little about _hiruseki _stones although it was worth a try. Gemology had never really caught her interest...she didn't really care for gemstones in the same sense that most girls did. She knew her birthstone and all, had a set of earrings that she normally wore that didn't have any kind of gem attached to them...the only two important 'gemstones' were her Saturn crystal and due to her duty, the ginzuishou.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to look here...she would start with various general pieces like encyclopedias. Nothing. Hotaru turned her attention to more concentrated volumes specifically marked as such. Still nothing.

After awhile, a library associate asked if she needed help and turned her in the direction of the foreign sections. Her English was fairly good, Setsuna being an excellent teacher, but she wasn't as proficient in other languages. If it was called a _hiruseki _stone in Japan...would it be known as another name in foreign countries? She didn't suspect so and found nothing for her endeavors.

Let's see...if it was a gemstone and not a regular stone or rock like she suspected then maybe a jewelry store would be the next best place to try. If her memory served correctly, there should be one right around the corner a couple of streets over. As she exited the library, her eye caught something.

It was a large group of people huddled around what looked to be a barricade of some kind...a police barricade. "Excuse me, sir?" she asked demurely, quiet, "What's going on?"

"Seems like there was some kind of accident." he answered sharply without turning around, "Ugh, some of us are going to be late for work..." he mumbled not giving the tiny girl another care or thought. Hotaru bent over in a thankful bow that the man didn't see, mouth a straight line, and turned to go the other way. She knew a short-cut around but the new store in question was a bit out of the way...she didn't have much else to do this weekend either way.

Chibi-Usa had gone back to her own time. The other senshi were hard at work with their careers or away at the college campuses they now attended. She stopped once she reached a park area, face sad and downcast as she stared up at a thin, flimsy tree. It looked like an old sakura tree that had seen better days and now with the coming of winter was losing its summer petals to the breeze. The park was strangely quiet, a place where children normally frolicked was empty and desolate now. Turning her eyes back to the pavement, she continued on her way.

This next part wouldn't exactly be called fun...she'd have to pass under a bridge, this particular one being home to an unfriendly gang she'd heard about once. She wasn't sure of the school they attended because she rarely ever ventured this far into this side of town unless there was an enemy...and that seemed like such a long time ago. All she knew was that their uniforms were blue; a stark contrast to the red and green that she usually wore. The rebuilt Mugen Gakuen had decided to keep their old uniforms despite the school's destruction and the arrival of a new owner.

Hotaru stopped again...it had been too long since she'd thought about her father. The thought alone was nearly enough to make her cry, that, along with the dream of her mother...it made her chest hurt and she clutched at it with a pale hand. He had been okay for awhile after the attack, trying to learn to live again with his lost memories. Every now and then something would pop back up and he'd remember, sometimes the force and power of what he had remembered would force the man to tears...making him question how he could have forgotten in the first place. Hotaru watched him, assuming that he was getting better everyday since he was recalling but...it was the pain and stress of not knowing that inevitable killed him. It was too much and his heart gave out. Hotaru wanted to turn and run to the graveyard where her human parents lay but...it was all the way on the other side of town now, meaning she would reach it around dark. A dark cloud threatened to pour rain overhead as well...she would definitely go tomorrow though.

Hotaru continued on knowing that as soon as she was past the bridge she would be alright...let's hope that those thugs weren't here today. She hoped for too much. As soon as she drew nearer, they fanned out from the shadows with the intention to flank her on all sides, ensuring that there was no escape.

"What's a pretty little girly like you doing all the way out here?" one asked, his snarling mouth covered by a thin, white mask; the kind normally worn to avoid sickness.

"Yeah, I didn't know little kids wondered off the beaten paths these days." another one continued to prod.

"Maybe her mommy and daddy won't find out!" yet another of the six chided, this time causing the group to break out into laughter.

Hotaru glared at their comment yet was fearful inside. She was without her henshin stick seeing no need to carry it around these days and if she ever ran into other trouble she always assumed Haruka would be there to bail her out...big mistake. If she had her henshin stick, she'd knock them all flat and be on her way...what should she do now? Risk running? No, that wouldn't work her mind decided, it would be too easy for one of them to grab her as she tried to slide between the spaces in their shoddily-formed circle. Calling for help wasn't an option either...no one would hear her since the street was up high on the embankment and no one was around down here if the empty park was any indication. Looked like she'd have to fight her way out...a dismal option as her physical fighting abilities weren't too good at all. She relied on her Silence Glaive for fights too heavily she realized.

"Hey nobody said there was gonna be a party, you should have invited me."

Hotaru turned behind her to see...another thug most likely, probably the gang leader or someone like that. No...he was different. This boy was dressed in all green with slicked back hair, a girl about his age in a blouse and skirt stood behind him.

"Yusuke!" the girl reprimanded, a hand clutching his arm, "You promised you wouldn't fight today!" Hotaru could just barely make out the boy's mumbled response...something about her needing help. Well, he was dead on, she decided nodding in their direction to show that she did indeed require help.

"Aw, who asked you?!" one of the gang members decided, rushing forward with a fist held high. The boy in green, or Yusuke as the girl called him, simply pushed the girl aside and side-stepped the punch. He made fighting look so...effortless. It reminded her a bit of Haruka. Hotaru stood in amazement as the boy took on all six at a time, knocking each one out without breaking a sweat...he didn't even get grazed.

"And that's all folks." he joked as the last one went down into the dust. Hotaru barely had time to notice as she realized the girl had run up to her.

"Hi! So sorry about that...I didn't realize you were in trouble. My name is Kayko Yukimura...and you?" she asked politely with a smile.

"It's...Hotaru...Hotaru Tomoe." she replied with a slight bow, "Thank you for saving me...I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't shown up when you did." Hotaru's lips formed into a thin smile, and although small, expressed major gratitude.

"Nah, it was nothing. Just be more careful where you're walking kid...why are you even over here anyways? Everybody knows those losers hang around here." Yusuke explained, a thumb jerked back in the direction of the other unconscious teenagers.

"Hm?" Kayko bent down beside her and picked up what looked to be a small ledger book, "Is this yours?" The book read Mugan Gakuen on the side...it must have somehow fallen out of her bag. Purses were a little too inconvenient for her but she'd found a nice small, leather bag that did the trick; it was easy to carry around and she usually draped it around her neck and opposite shoulder rather than just her left shoulder.

"Oh yes..." she responded, taking the book from the girl's hands as the other two's eyes began to widen.

"You're from...Mugen Gakuen?!" the two nearly chorused...was it really all that strange? True it was a ways out from where they were now but still...

"I heard they only teach like super nerds at that school...you gotta be a genius to get in right?"

"Yusuke! Don't be rude! Please excuse him, he's just a delinquent. But wow, I've never met anyone who's attended Mugen...is it truly as difficult as they say?"

"Not too difficult...my father used to be the owner of Mugen so I wouldn't consider myself a super genius or anything. I was just lucky to be getting a free ride." Hotaru tried to joke with a smile...it was true though, she was not required to take any entrance exam into the school, however, if a certain grade average was not met than a student was to be expelled from the school as she explained to the two teens. "And you two attend...?" Hotaru trailed off looking between the both of them; the bright-eyed girl and the slightly bored looking boy.

"Sarayashiki Jr. High...does that mean you're the same age as us?" Kayko asked, re-shouldering her own bag.

Hotaru nodded, "I'm 14...8th grade." Hotaru noticed the slight surprise on their faces again...it had to be because of her short height of 4'8'' that they had trouble believing someone short like her was their age.

"That's cool, it's too bad we don't go to the same school." Kayko laughed as Yusuke rolled his eyes in the background. "Oh well, it was nice meeting you anyhow. Try and stay out of trouble on your way home." Kayko ran to return to Yusuke's side who had already begun to head off, his interest long since lost due to the fight being over.

"Oh, uh, just a moment!" Hotaru called after them, "Could you...I'm certain that there used to be a jewelry store around here somewhere. Would you mind coming with me? I'd feel a lot safer if I had you two come with me." It might have seemed a bit rude since they had just met, but Hotaru was in no position to pass up friends...at least the girl seemed friendly anyhow.

"Sure, why not? Come on Yusuke!" Kayko ordered, grabbing a hold of his arm again, dragging him with much greater force than earlier.

"Wha-...really? Why can't you just go? I got stuff to do!" the boy argued, only causing Kayko's grip to tighten.

"Oh really? Like what?"

"Personal stuff."

"The arcade and pachinko parlor is not a personal problem!"

Hotaru smiled softly as the couple followed behind her...it was easy to tell from the way they fought that they were more than just good friends. They might not have reached the revealing stage yet, but they were certainly a couple. Their arguing made her laugh a little although she tried to hide it.

"So Tomoe-san, what exactly are you going to the jewelry store for? Buying something for someone special?" Kayko joked with a smile, coming to stand beside her. Yusuke trailed some ways after the two, grumbling and scuffing his feet as he did so.

Hotaru's cheeks tinted, "Oh no, nothing like that!" she said in a hurry, her face remaining rather calm despite the blush, "I'm looking for a certain type of gemstone...maybe you've heard of it? It's called a _hiruseki_ stone..." Hotaru paused as she reached into the bag, pulling from within the tiny slip of paper Setsuna had left to her as a note. On the backside, there was a drawing of what the stone looked like. Nothing could really be discerned from the scribbled drawing other than its shape, which only went to prove it wasn't something obvious like a diamond.

Kayko stared at the picture, putting a hand to her chin in thought, "I honestly can't say that I have...I've never even heard of it."

"I'm hoping that the person at the store has. It's so rare and odd...when you touch it, it's as cold as ice but the feeling it gives off is also warm like fire. Isn't that strange?" Hotaru asked, tucking the paper away, her face graced with a slight smile.

By the time the trio reached the store, Hotaru and Kayko had already exchanged numbers and promised to hang out again sometime soon, Yusuke not as enthusiastic.

Tucking the information into her bag, Hotaru entered the store. It wasn't an unusual looking place, rather average with a less than happy clerk tending the store. Getting the information she required wouldn't be an easy task either way.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for something called a _hiruseki _stone..."

* * *

The door's bell chimed behind the girl as she left, empty-handed and none the wiser. The clerk obviously had no idea what she was talking about, not even a close idea. She'd be better off just asking random strangers off the street as the clerk had advised smugly. She supposed it couldn't really hurt to ask on her way back home.

"Excuse me..." she used the same line on nearly every passerby that would hear her out, most responses being a simple head-shake or a flat-out no.

Finally, she reached the park area again. The goons from early had high-tailed it out there it seemed and posed no threat to her. She couldn't help but wonder if they were afraid of Yusuke somehow, like he had a reputation...Kayko did say he was a delinquent but was she serious?

Heaving a sigh, she rested her body down into a swing. It had been an eventful and yet an uneventful day as well...she may have made a friend, but learned absolutely nothing about the stone. If Setsuna knew anything, she obviously didn't want to say anymore about it. Maybe it was just better if she dropped the idea altogether...

"Who are you?"

The voice startled her, rising from the swing with a surprised yelp. She turned around in confusion...how had she not heard someone sneak up on her? Well, it certainly wasn't one of the thugs from earlier...it was a boy donned all in black, about her height too.

"Who am I? What about you? It's polite to give your own name first." she retorted despite the beating in her chest, not only from the earlier shock but something in the air told her that something was different about him...off.

"You humans and your foolish customs...I have no time for this. How does someone like you know about _hiruseki _stones?"

She paused for a moment, realization coming over her face. "Do you know about them? Please, if you know anything at all then I need to know! I...I even have a picture, look!" Hotaru quickly dug through her bag for the scribbled drawing but as soon as she pulled it out the boy grabbed her wrist. Once again she failed to hear him getting close much less see him do it.

She winced at the grip he held on her right wrist, his own right hand coming up the snatch the paper from her. Hotaru grimaced and yelped at the bones in her wrist popped and shifted...he hadn't broken it yet but he was close. The pain was so great it might have forced her to her knees, her left hand trying to push his inhuman grip away.

"You'd do well to leave them alone, human. You have no business inquiring about those stones." Hotaru watched in surprise as the piece of paper in his hand spontaneously combusted, flickering away as black ash in the tiny breeze that wafted through the air. Before she could question how he had done that, the grip on her hand was mysteriously gone...and so was he.

She came to her senses quickly, looking around for his disappeared form but to no avail. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all...what had she gotten herself into now? Hotaru tried moving her wrist and winced...it wasn't broken but it felt like it was sprained somehow. For someone of his appearance he didn't look all that strong but she knew better than to judge someone by their appearance. But...she'd never met another human who had strength or powers like the senshi. Was he a new enemy? Did he come from a larger group of a new enemy threat? Perhaps...perhaps that's what the dream had been about. There was a new enemy that was seeking the _hiruseki_ stones...no, it just didn't add up. She still didn't know their purpose or their value. Were they worth money then? Or did they hold some kind of power? Someone wouldn't be seeking them unless one of those two reasons were true.

The sun was sinking now, the rain clouds from earlier had quadrupled. It was time to go home, besides, she couldn't do much with this injured wrist of hers. It was likely that she wouldn't be using it anymore tonight; tomorrow morning at the earliest if she was lucky.

* * *

Setsuna hadn't exactly been thrilled to learn what had happened, focusing more on the girl's injured wrist rather than the fact that someone had accosted her for asking about the stones... Setsuna began to think as she wrapped the girl's wrist into a protective brace that had once belonged to Haruka, a product of the past when the blond-haired woman had tumbled over her bike and had walked away with nothing more than a sprained wrist.

Maybe she should have told Hotaru...but what were the chances that someone knew of that kind of stone? And if what she said had been true, and she didn't doubt Hotaru for the girl never lied due to her being so easily read, then...were there humans who knew? Or were there demons in the human world?

She would have to see about this. She hated the idea that she might have put Hotaru in danger but was even more concerned with the fact that demons might be freely crossing over into the human world. If Hotaru had been threatened for merely inquiring about those stones...what if she had run into someone who coveted them? Would she have ended up the same as that explorer? It plagued the woman greatly, still, she couldn't fully tell Hotaru about the _hiruseki_ stones until she knew for sure.

Going straight to Makai would be a bust as no true ruler had the run of the world, it was merely a place of lawless chaos and demons running amok. She'd be lucky to find one competent enough to speak to her without threatening to eat her or some other inane threat thrown her way. Paradise and Hell were too broad a place to search and gaining access to either realm would take time, not to mention a special clearance from the Reikai, the Spirit World. It was a good a place to start as any especially if she could at least speak with King Enma.

But should she bring Hotaru along? Setsuna hated the idea of leaving her home alone should the boy come back and find her somehow. If he truly was a demon, then he certainly had the power to find her if he so chose..

"Hotaru, I'm afraid there is something we must talk about..."

* * *

_**A/N: Okay a few things...hopefully you guys noticed the parallel between the first and second chapter's beginning. Also, you may notice this incarnation of Hotaru isn't the happy kid I normally write about with a happy family and lots of friends (which is how I always thought her family life would be after the fight with Galaxia/Chaos). In this, Hotaru is much less expressionless, slightly sad for a lack of a better word. This is one of the only stories I've ever written where neither of her parents survived also.**_

_**I've never had so much fun writing a story, I guess because I don't normally write in such a dark tone. **_

_**Also, I switched Kayko's name spelling to the English dub version to avoid confusion so Keiko is Hotaru's mother, Kayko is the YYH character. Things will start to pick up in the next chapter.**_


	3. Barrier Breakdown

The two women left in the dead of night, Hotaru with just a brief understanding of what was going on. Hotaru knew that there were other worlds out there, how could she not when she herself came from another planet...other realms as well. No matter what you believed in as far as religion went, there was a set place for Paradise for good souls who had accomplished good things in their human lives, and a general Hell, or Inferno as some called it, for souls that were to be punished for their misdeeds. She and Setsuna were headed for the Reikai, the realm that all spirits must passed through to be judged on where they would spend their afterlife.

She felt no fear at the thought of their journey, perhaps a little apprehension. Hotaru herself had been exempt from ever having to pass through Reikai as her status as a celestial warrior prevented it. Whenever a celestial being, such as a senshi, passed away, their souls returned to the Galaxy Cauldron where they would be reborn when the time was right or permission was granted. She herself had been to that Cauldron a number of times as it was the birthplace of all stars and celestial beings in the galaxy. Now that the Chaos Seed had been dissolved within the Cauldron, it would continue to live inside the minds of the people born from that Cauldron but in its weakened state would be unable to pose a threat for quite some time...millenniums at the earliest. This meant that the Cauldron was a perfect place to store the lost Star Seeds of senshi and those who had died.

Humans, demons, and all other non-celestial beings were subject to judgment by the Reikai and the entity who presided over it: King Enma and his son.

Setsuna had teleported them to the Gates of Time, requesting passage to bypass the barrier that supposedly stood strong between the human and Reikai realms. They were going to question the strength of the barrier and learn of the possible threat that demons might pose to the humans. Hotaru wasn't sure how much stock she could put into that...the senshi never encountered a rogue demon around the Juuban area but that of course didn't automatically rule out their existence. Still, it was strange that she had never met one until now. She assumed demons liked to claim territory just as humans did so it was entirely possible that they simply had missed those parts in the city.

"Come along Hotaru-chan," Setsuna called, breaking her from her reverie. Hotaru nodded, following the woman without a word. Hopefully this trip would be over quickly.

* * *

"Right this way, Lord Koenma will see you now." a woman in a dark gray robe called Ayame explained to them, a 'grim reaper' of sorts who was normally tasked with the task of research; she was currently taking over the job of another river Styx guide due to them being "short-handed". Hotaru grimaced a little on the inside...that didn't sound good in whatever context you happened to put it into to.

The two were lead down a long hallway, the quiet woman still their silent guide in their journey. They hadn't been granted an audience with King Enma, instead being able to met with his son who was less busy, aptly named Koenma. Setsuna didn't seem too upset with this, surely anything that was brought before Koenma would make it back to his father.

Behind large, wooden red doors sat a single desk...it looked to be empty. As soon as all three women had entered the room, the doors creaked back to a close. Hotaru looked around, never having seen this place before...it certainly wasn't what she had imagined it to be. The walls were rather plain and muffled noises of yelling and confusion could just barely be heard on the other side of the walls. So...there were actually spirits and demons who held jobs here and worked like normal humans, Hotaru affirmed watching as what appeared to be an oni hurriedly ran past them with a stack of papers in his arms.

"Lord Koenma, you have visitors from the human world." Ayame gave a small bow, excusing herself from the room as she disappeared down a connecting corridor.

There was some shuffling behind the desk, the mountain of papers stacked to the ceiling threatened to topple over at any minute if the desk continued to shake. "Gimme just a minute! That foolish ogre! It's all his fault I lost my stamp marker! How am I supposed to sentence paradises and punishments now?!"

Hotaru's mouth formed into a tiny 'o'-shape...that certainly wasn't the voice she was expecting to hear. She had been expecting something more gruff, demonic sounding in a sense...she snuck a glance up at Setsuna who's face hadn't changed, showing that there was no reason for concern. Perhaps Setsuna had met with him before? Without warning, a rather large bluish, purple hat rose into view followed by a pair of less than happy brown eyes. With a quick jump, he made his way onto the desk somehow avoiding knocking over the papers.

"Yes, I'm Lord Koenma...what do you want? Make it quick, okay?" Hotaru's mouth retained it's shape...was a toddler really the 2nd in command of the Reikai? She thought best to keep her mouth shut. She didn't plan on insulting him or anything but perhaps questioning his size wasn't the best course of action...she couldn't really talk with her short height either. Setsuna gave a small cough, clearing her throat,

"Lord Koenma, I am known as Setsuna Meiou in this form, but I am also princess of the planet Pluto and the Guardian of Time."

"A celestial?" he questioned, his attention now obviously focused on them, "Why would you end up here?"

"We're not dead, I'm afraid. Actually, we've come to inquire about a problem. Even celestial beings know that the realms of the human world and those of the many others are never to mix. My daughter, Hotaru Tomoe, seems to have encountered one...a demon." Hotaru performed a quick curtsey when his eyes fell on her.

"I am known as Hotaru Tomoe in my human form, but I am also princess of Saturn, Guardian of Death, Rebirth, and Destruction."

"Hotaru," Setsuna nodded, informing the girl that she should tell her story.

Hotaru nodded back, prepared to tell her story as politely and quickly as possible. She decided the beginning was as good a place to start as any, telling him about the dream involving the _hiruseki_ stone, and about the boy in black who had accosted her in the park earlier that day. She explained about the strange power of fire that the boy seemed to control which made her believe that he must have been a demon.

Koenma grimaced as her story was finished...he had a fairly good idea of who the girl was talking about."Ugh, Hiei why are you causing trouble..." the toddler-sized leader turned away to grumble, chewing his pacifier as he did so. "Wait a second...did you say _hiruseki_?" he proclaimed, jumping from his sitting position atop the desk to float over towards Hotaru's face.

"Um...yes sir? I mean, I don't know anything about them, I just had a dream where I found one. While I was in the human realm earlier today, I started to ask around about it to see if anyone knew what it was and then...that boy showed up." she basically repeated her story, wondering if he had even heard her at all the first time. "Setsuna-mama told me that _hiruseki_ stones were precious because of their monetary value to humans and demons alike but that's not why I'm looking for one. Actually, I'm looking for-"

But the dark-haired girl was cut short by the abrupt opening of the doors, creaking with age and weight as they forcefully flew open. "Lord Koenma! We've got trouble and I can't get a hold of Yusuke!" it was a blue-haired girl in a pink kimono and she was...riding a boat oar? This place was just filled with oddities she remarked as the girl flew to a stop and remained sitting, she gave them a small nod in place of a bow to excuse herself and continued on, "And it looks like we've got a rather nasty one on our hands this time. Can't you try to find Yusuke, or even Kuwabara?!"

Botan knew how much the orange-headed boy hated being the back-up, or Spirit Detective #2, or whatever he was calling it nowadays but he'd have to get over it. Technically he was although Reikai hadn't put much stock into the idea, making it an unofficial position. Still, there was no time to waste with a demon about to go on the rampage down the human world.

"Did you say...you mean there's trouble?" Hotaru questioned almost immediately, not missing the name drop of Yusuke but it certainly couldn't have been the same boy she met earlier with Kayko. "If so, we could help out."

"Hotaru-chan, you go. I must stay here for there are still things that must be discussed." Setsuna nodded, urging to go on. The blue-haired girl mentioned trouble...a demon on the loose no doubt.

"Right." Hotaru responded, coming to stand in front of the girl on the oar, "I may not look like much of a fighter but I'll do what I can." Unlike last time when confronted with a fight, this time she carried her henshin wand with her. The blue-haired girl looked a bit uneasy at the much shorter girl.

"Uh...are you sure about this, dear? We wouldn't want you getting hurt when there's an idiot Spirit Detective who should be out there doing his job." the woman smiled genuinely, hiding her hands within the long pink sleeves of her kimono. Hotaru noticed she seemed to have some sort of accent but couldn't place where she might have heard it before. Hotaru simply nodded back at her...she would have transformed here but if the situation was as urgent as the oar-girl made it seem then they had no time to waste.

"Alrighty then, hop on," the girl commanded, hovering low enough to the ground so that Hotaru could gain access. Without warning, the girl turned and sped off, Hotaru nearly falling off from the force but had luckily grabbed onto the woman's waist.

"Botan's my name and being the 'Grim Reaper' is my game!" she happily chanted as the two girls disappeared off to human world.

"Just as well, there are more important things I wish to discuss with you, Lord Koenma, and do not fret for I will not be long." Setsuna started up again, turning in the direction of the toddler-sized boy who still remained floating in mid-air. "Because of my daughter's encounter with a demon boy earlier today, I've come to question exactly how strong the barriers between the worlds are. You know as well I as do that realms are not mix as such. Even as the Guardian of Time and the Time Gates, I can't sit by and let a world fall to ruin if I have the ability to stop it." Setsuna cringed inwardly, realizing her words...she had said nearly the same thing all those years ago when the Outers had decided to destroy Saturn for the good of the world.

"The Time Gates, I see...now I remember who the both of you are. You and the girl are immortals, correct?"

"In a sense..." Setsuna trailed, wondering where he was going with that information as it really had nothing to do with the topic at hand. "We are Sailor Senshi first and foremost, female warriors entrusted with protecting the galaxy from outside forces, however, the Sailor Wars have ended and our powers are no longer needed on Earth in this century. It will be a millennium before we are needed again, however, Hotaru and I will be the only original senshi left due to our duties. Death and Time stand eternal where none else can."

"Exactly then. Like I suspected, you and...Hotaru, was it? You and Hotaru were originally alive when the Silver Millennium took place, am I right? I thought the story was just an old myth or a fairy tale, but I suppose the both of you being here proves that wrong. After the fall of the Silver Millennium, everyone who died was reincarnated on Earth if I remember correctly. My father thought it was strange here in Reikai since none of the souls passed through here at all, but instead immediately bypassed us and were reincarnated on Earth. I was not yet born at that time." He tacked onto the end.

"That would be the power of our Princess's ginzuishou. I'd be more than happy to reminisce with you later," Setsuna replied a little sarcastically as the Silver Millennium wasn't exactly her favorite thing to talk about, "but right now I'd be most happy if you could answer my question."

"Of course, I understand." the boy replied, his eyes closed so tightly they resembled mere lines. He levitated back over to his chair and hit a button which opened a paneling in the wall to reveal what looked to be a television set. He pressed a few more buttons before the screen beeped and something was finally shown on the monitor.

"That...is the Kekkai Barrier. It was erected during my father's initial reign before he gave most of the responsibilities over to me. It's quite strong and sturdy as you'll see, any stray demons that try to pass through it will be obliterated."

"Then how are demons still passing over into the human world?"

"Please, let me finish. While the kekkai net is strong, it grows weaker everyday and will soon need to be replaced by a new one. The kekkai net is still good for now, it only allows A-class demons or higher to pass through and those who hold that rank are smart enough to stay where they are in Makai. They hold no quarter in the human world as it disgusts them...most of them are too busy vying to rule the Makai. On the other hand...there have been holes forming in the kekkai..." he trailed off, grumbling again as he fell backwards into his seat.

"Holes? So that means there **are** demons passing over then?" Setsuna turned in shock, her theory slowing becoming true.

"In a sense. The one your daughter met with is...'employed' shall we say with Reikai. He was a thief along with two others who attempted to steal one of the artifacts from our treasure vault. The trio was dealt with by our Spirit Detective and so we keep the two that survived chained down to the human world to keep an eye on them. They work for us to repay back their crime." Koenma explained, pressing more buttons to dismiss the surveillance of the kekkai net and bring up the profiles of the two demons in question. "Their names are Hiei and Kurama...do they look familiar?"

"I'm afraid I don't know. It was my daughter who encountered one, not me." Setsuna responded, carefully looking over both pictures. The one on the left fit Hotaru's description the best. It showed only a bust image but she could tell that the boy wore all black, had spiky black hair as well. The one on the right was a mystery to her entirely, she assuming that this must have the black-clad one's partner during their time as thieves. Thieves who were trying to steal artifacts huh...

"You say they tried to steal artifacts...mind if I ask what they were?" Setsuna inquired, turning away from the screen to look back at him again.

Koenma chewed his pacifier before he answered, "Well, one was a sword called the Conjuring Blade that can turn whoever is cut with it into a low-class demon. The other artifact was called the Forlorn Hope, a mirror that can only be activated on the night of a full moon. It has the ability to grant the owner one wish but it can only do so in exchange for the person's life. That numbskull Yusuke cracked it and broke it though."

"And the last artifact? You mentioned they were a trio."

"The other thief is long since dead but what he tried to steal is called the Orb of Baast. It has the ability to steal souls. All of them have been securely locked away, more so than they ever wore before. If you're wondering if _hiruseki_ stones were in the mix, I'm afraid you're out of luck."

"Am I that easy to read?" Setsuna responded with smile, closing her eyes.

* * *

Hotaru was beginning to feel a little sea-sick, for lack of a better word, as the woman driving the oar did so in a crazy manner. They tumbled and soared through gray clouds as they went, finally emerging into the clear, star-riddled night sky of the human world.

"I thought Reikai and the human world weren't supposed to be connected like that! I mean, I thought you couldn't cross the barrier so easily!" Hotaru yelled, the wind velocity would surely cut her voice down so it was barely audible.

"Normally it isn't," Botan replied back, "what we just used was a special portal that was developed by Reikai so we can take souls back and forth from the human world! Only river Styx guides can pass through, and anybody they might be carrying on their oars of course!" she explained happily as they continued to descend lower and lower.

"Oh, I see...could it be possible that someone without an oar could get through?" Hotaru felt she should question this...Setsuna might be interested in knowing some of this.

"If they did it would be a miracle! Only river Styx guides can create the oars so if anyone else tried to go through, they'd be expelled out or burnt to a crisp or something rather unpleasant. We haven't had anyone try it for awhile now, but we're pretty sure it would do something rather nasty to them!"

Hotaru grimaced...remind her to always go to the Gates of Time to earn passage before she went anywhere again.

Finally, they had descended low enough to be just over the city so yelling was no longer required. Hotaru couldn't help but wonder if the people below could see them. She asked Botan about this.

"Nope, we're as invisible as air when we're up here. When I let you down however, try your best not to be seen and look as inconspicuous as possible, okay? We definitely don't need a human finding out and we want take that ugly monster by surprise." Hotaru nodded, hoping that Botan could sense the motion. Releasing an arm from around the girl's waist, Hotaru reached into her leather shoulder bag and pulled forth her henshin stick. It had been two full years since she'd called on Saturn...she just hoped she wasn't rusty with her Glaive.

"There it is, up ahead!" Botan whispered, Hotaru looking around her to see. Wait a minute...this place seemed familiar...it was the park she was at earlier today when the demon boy nearly broke her wrist. Hotaru grimaced looking down at her wrist. Due to her healing abilities, the sprain had healed much faster than she suspected but had kept the brace on just in case. She carefully undid the brace and tucked it into her bag, twisting her wrist in every direction to make sure it was okay to use. It was perfectly fine much to her surprise...she really should give herself more credit.

"You ready? I'll drop you close enough if you are." Botan informed, Hotaru replying that she was more than ready. As soon as the blue-haired girl got close enough to the ground, Hotaru swallowed her fear, focused her balance onto the oar and stood up, and with a leap, flew into the air with henshin stick held high.

"Saturn Crystal Power...make-up!"

Purple energy erupted from the wand and disappeared in a blinding flash, leaving only her extended hand suspended in the air. Bright sparkles appeared around her fingertips, polishing them with a purple paint. She spun around, feeling the energy pooling around her...it was warm, strong, and safe. An orb began to form, coming up to envelope her from the ground up. It engulfed her, disappearing and leaving her white body suit behind. Another flash of purple light and her skirt had formed. The giant polearm she knew so well rose from the Earth and flew to her hands. She felt Saturn surge within her, the purple sigil appearing on her forehead.

She landed with a thud.

Saturn wasn't the type for speeches like Moon and the other Outers instead holding up her end as the Soldier of Silence, engaging her enemies without a word. The monster looked to be an ogre, tall and coarse-looking with an ugly snout. It was a wonder the thing hadn't made it to the residential areas yet, seeming to be much too content with wrecking the tiny park in front of him. "Where are youuuuu?!" it bellowed, crushing the metal swingset with the force of its bare hands. Almost as if sensing her presence, the beast turned towards her and growled.

"Foolish human! Come out of hiding! Where is heeee?!" it bellowed again. The human comment had been direct towards her, but who exactly was he talking about otherwise? The creature was obviously confused...lost maybe? Who could he be searching for here in the human world? "I can smell him, I know he's been here! When I find you I will rip you to shreds!" Well, that certainly clinched it...she couldn't have this thing rampaging around and possibly injuring innocent people.

"I don't think so! Stop right there!" Saturn yelled knowing that the beast could hear her, "To protect peace I will put an end to you!" Readying her glaive into an attack stance, she charged toward the creature. As Saturn she was a good deal faster and gained the ability to jump a great deal higher and farther. However, she didn't get far when she saw the monster's eyes roll back into his head causing her to skid to a stop. What...had just happened? The beast toppled over facedown with a thud that kicked up a flurry of dust. Behind where the creature had stood was a figure...she could just barely make out that it was shaped like a person...a person with spiky hair and a sword in hand.

Gritting her teeth, she clutched her glaive tighter...now who was it? The dust cleared quickly as the figure sheathed its sword. It was...it was the boy from earlier?

"You...?" Saturn whispered as she stared, on eye-level now, with the boy clad all in black. It may have been dark but it was quite easy to see him with help of the low-hanging streetlights. He wore all black as she had noted many times before and it seemed to be seem a simple cloak with a white collar. His hair was outrageously spiky, hints of blue lining the edges, and you definitely couldn't miss the starbust of white in the center. Her eyes also fell on a white headband...it looked ordinary enough but felt out of place on his person.

"And just who are you supposed to be?" he questioned, the mocking tone in his voice unmistakeable. That's right, Saturn recalled, since she was transformed, the protective aura around her kept those from recognizing her other identity as Hotaru Tomoe. Despite the two of them having met earlier, the boy would have no way of knowing it was her.

"I am called Sailor Saturn, the senshi who rules over death, rebirth, and destruction." The title obviously meant very little to him as he didn't so much as bat an eye. "Was that creature looking for you?"

"..." He remained silent, a glare her only answer for awhile before he decided to speak up, "I don't see how any of that is your business, human."

"So, you are a demon as that creature was?"

He scoffed, turning his back on her and began to walk away. Saturn dismissed her glaive and tried to run after him, "Where are you going? Please answer me!"

He abruptly stopped and glanced over his shoulder, "I don't have time to play 20 Questions." and with an impressive jump, or what looked to be like one, disappeared into the night.

Saturn stopped and looked around, trying to find him or at least sense his energy. It was no good, he had just...vanished. It wasn't too hard to tell from what had just gone on. That creature had come here looking for him, to kill him but...what had he done? Just who was he?

Saturn knew she couldn't de-henshin here, there was a chance he might still be slumming around in the shadows and she definitely didn't want to risk him finding out that they had met earlier that day. She had her communicator on her and retrieved it from subspace pocket in her skirt. She contacted Setsuna, hoping the woman would answer. The communicator rang just like a telephone would but no one picked up on the other hand.

"Wonderful job, dear! Amazing if I may say so!" Saturn cringed...Botan was still here? She thought the girl had flown back off to Reikai. "Who knew someone so small carried such a big weapon?"

Saturn tried to smile as if to show it was no big deal...but couldn't, her half-smile fading away into a grimace. Botan gestured for her to get back on the oar and Saturn nodded, Setsuna was still probably back in Reikai waiting for her to return. "Aren't you going to change back?" Botan questioned as they hovered low over the ground. Saturn supposed she might as well since Botan already knew, the boy probably long gone by now anyways. With a flash of light, purple ribbons unwound themselves from her body and came back together to form her henshin stick. Originally, Saturn hadn't been granted a henshin stick, being allowed to use her command as a transformation trigger phrase. This, however, took a toll on her powers and drained energy from her to use; the henshin wand gave her a 'lightning rod' of sorts to channel her powers through and make it easier. Admittedly, she would have preferred a brooch/compact like Sailor Moon but she knew she couldn't do anything to change it.

"Um...Botan?" the tiny girl questioned once the two of them were seated on the oar, well on their way back to Reikai, "Did you see that boy? What did you happen to see?"

"Well, I saw you disappear into the purple light and come out looking quite interesting for one." It probably didn't matter if Botan knew...Koenma had been informed of their status as senshi, and Botan was just a mere guide for lost souls, "And boy? What boy did you mean?"

"There was a boy there, he was dressed all in black and had a sword? He's the one who killed the demon not me!" she exclaimed, wondering how the blue-haired girl could have missed him. Hotaru also couldn't help but wonder what exactly was going to happen to the corpse of the demon...maybe Reikai had a special team for clean-up like that? It was kind of a morbid thought either way.

"Hmm, all in black with a sword? Ah, I've got it! You must mean Hiei! He's got a really rotten temper but he can be decent sometimes." she laughed, Hotaru could feel her own features deflating. So...basically...Botan hadn't gotten a good look or even noticed that he was there because she was too busy marveling Hotaru's weapon. That was the gist of it, Hotaru noted, as the two of them made it back to Reikai. Hotaru doubted that remembering the name 'Hiei' would do her any good...if he was a friend of Botan then he probably was a spirit like her or one of the dead, neither of which the demon boy was. Still, the resemblance and the way Botan described him with such ease and certainty had her questioning what to do.

Maybe she could ask Setsuna to look into for it...

* * *

_**Shout-out to my reviewers! Thanks a lot guys for reading through all this rambling and actually liking it! XD**_


	4. Crossroads and the Evil Crystal

Imagine her surprise when Setsuna actually knew who she was talking about...she hadn't expected that in the slightest. As the two of them walked back through the passageway that lead to the Time Gates, Hotaru questioned if Setsuna knew of anyone called 'Hiei'...the woman paused for a moment as if to think it over and said finally that yes, someone with that name had been brought to her attention.

Setsuna informed of the situation with the Kekkai Barrier that kept the demons of Makai shut out from the human world, and yet, in the net, small holes had begun to form that allowed any old demon to slip by whenever they pleased. Koenma assured her that any and all threats that slipped through would be hurriedly dealt with by a special group they had created, the same group the so-called 'Spirit Detective' was a part of. Setsuna explained she didn't know how well this would work seeing as Hotaru had been the one to go off and fight the threat but continued on. She'd learned about this team from her inquiries saying that two humans with the ability to control spirit energy had been recruited to take on cases and stop powerful demons from meddling in humanity's affairs.

They took on a variety of "cases", mostly whatever Koenma said needed to be done and whatever was thrown their way like stopping an evil demon from acquiring a secret technique that could have destroyed the world, for example. Helping them were two demons who, as Koenma had so aptly put it, were chained down to the human world to have surveillance kept on them. The two had been pegged as thieves after stealing 3 of Reikai's most treasured artifacts with the help of another demon. The two living demons were called Hiei and Kurama.

Now the similarities were too great to dismiss. So...the demon boy who knew about the _hiruseki_ stones, killed the demon creature in the park, and once stole a precious artifact from Reikai were one in the same.

"Hotaru," Setsuna began, "I think it would be best if you tried to avoid that boy...Hiei?"

"But Setsuna-mama...he knows about the _hiruseki _stones. What if he knows something about my dream?" What if he was the boy from her dream...they did seem similar but didn't quite look the same. The boy in her dream didn't wear a white headband and wore his cloak open...minor details really but they seemed like important factors. The aura was different feeling as well.

"He nearly broke your wrist, I highly doubt he has any interest in talking to you, Hotaru-chan. I just want you to be safe. Also, we need to think of a way to speed up the replacement of that kekkai net. I know you want to find out the meaning of that dream but maybe...maybe you're not meant to? Or rather, there's no point in learning about it because it doesn't mean anything. The stones and the kekkai net certainly aren't related."

"I understand..." Hotaru trailed off. She, like Michiru and Rei, never had an odd dream that didn't have a hidden meaning to it or would be a clue to something in their future. She hated the thought of going against Setsuna's wishes but...all of this had to mean something. It might even explain why she had the dream about her mother. The girl grimaced, realizing that she might encounter another dream of its kind tonight. It wasn't like she could skip out on sleeping, she would have to do it eventually, and staying up late wouldn't do her any good seeing as the dreams kept her as long they wished. She could only pray that tonight the dream would not turn into another nightmare.

* * *

"Alright talk. Who was that girl?" Hiei had no time to play games with the toddler-sized leader of the Reikai, right now, he needed answers. First, the human has the audacity to be asking around about _hiruseki_ stones, then shows up later with Botan and a giant weapon in tow as well. Something didn't add up and he'd be damned if Koenma was going to try and hide something else from him. It hadn't been that long ago that Yukina...

"What girl are you talking about?!" Koenma exclaimed, not happy about the fire demon suddenly busting into his 'office'. He continued to rant although it fell on deaf ears as Hiei growled.

"Don't you dare play stupid with me. The girl that was with Botan yesterday...who she is?" he was itching to draw his sword and put the fool in his place but held back, knowing it was a waste of time to pick a fight with the junior ruler of Reikai.

"And why should I tell you?" Koenma was being unusually tight-lipped about it all, having made a pact of sorts to not tell anyone else about the two senshi's visit. "You and the others should be busy preparing for the Dark Tournament...there's only a few more weeks left before the boat departs!" Hiei growled again...he knew that, dammit. Still, it wasn't like he could just safely go about while that girl was still walking around freely. He had to find her and get rid of her, who cared about her intention? She knew about the _hiruseki_ stones and that was enough to warrant her death...this could be another loose end of Tarukane's that needed to be tied up.

"Fine...I see." he replied rather smugly, standing down, "Maybe I can just **ask** some humans back in the human world and see if they can help me." He hoped Koenma noticed the emphasis on ask...if killing a few humans was what it took to get the information he so desired then so be it.

"I can't tell you that information," Koenma spoke up in a hurried tone, trying not to sound too worried, "but I can tell you that she doesn't know anything about them. She's not after Yukina, Hiei. She has no idea that the two of you even exist...well, maybe not so much you since from what I understand the two of you have met already?"

So, she was in Reikai yesterday. She was easily discernible as a human and he knew just as well as anyone that human souls who had not passed on could only get through to Reikai with the help of a river Styx guide.

Hmph, that was easy, Hiei remarked, turning to leave without a word to the junior ruler. He'd just go ask Botan instead. Of course, right now, he had no idea where she could be but that was what his Jagan Eye was for.

* * *

"Talk, woman." Botan startled at the sound of the voice, nearly falling out of her seat at the table at which she sat. She had luckily clung onto the table's edge and so retained her balance. She turned to see who had barged into the lounge room, as the 'grim reapers' preferred to call it, and saw Hiei.

"Oh Hiei, you really shouldn't sneak up on a girl like that!" she proclaimed, turning in the chair with ease despite the look of her restricting pink kimono.

"I have no time for your antics. Tell me who she is, the girl you were with yesterday." he demanded, hands tucked carefully into his cloak, a scowl settled firmly in place.

Botan paused putting a hand to her chin in thought which only caused the boy's scowl to grow deeper. Why did they choose to play ignorant? He could see right this little ruse. "Listen to me woman, I've already threatened to kill you should you reveal who I am to Yukina...don't make me threaten your life twice in one month." Botan yelped, obviously frightened as she knew the apparition would do it, and slowly and painfully to boot.

"O-okay...no need to be so bossy." she tried to laugh it off, waving her hands at him in a manner of surrender. "I wasn't supposed to tell you-"

"And why not?" he interrupted, actually beginning to grow curious about this little game of concealing information from him. First they hide the fact that Yukina had come to the human world, and now they were trying to hide the identity of an upstart human who was seeking _hiruseki_ stones...was this too supposed to be a part of his punishment for stealing that pathetic artifact? What a joke, he scoffed inwardly. They'd be best lucky he wasn't trying out his new technique on all of them...the dragon who had slowly begun to accept its new master was itching to be released.

"Well...I was just told not to tell by Lord Koenma. That's the truth, I promise!" she exclaimed as she saw him reach for his sword, "Anyways, her name is Hotaru Tomoe...she's an adorable little thing who fights with a polearm weapon."

"I've seen it." Hiei stated bluntly, unimpressed. The only interesting factor here was if the girl knew how to use it properly. "Why does she have an interest in _hiruseki _stones?"

"I...did she? She never mentioned it to me last night. Honest!" she proclaimed again. "That's all you're gonna get out of me and don't let Koenma know you heard it from me!" the blue-haired girl explained with a cross of her arms. Ayame also knew so maybe the blame wouldn't fall entirely on her if the truth came out. Opening her eyes from when she had closed them in frustration, she looked around...the room was empty. Botan sighed...there was only one place he could be headed.

* * *

Once back in the human world, he opened his Jagan Eye and began to scan the human world for the girl known as Hotaru Tomoe. It didn't matter if she was human, demon, or something else, for the simple fact of her knowing about the stones and possibly about Yukina made him feel no remorse at the idea of accosting her. Perhaps he had been more on edge lately due to Yukina's kidnapping but could anyone really blame him? Due to that whole mess now he, Kurama, the detective, and that orange-haired idiot had been ensnared in a trap by the Toguro brothers and Sakyo; fight and win at the Dark Tournament or watch as the world fell to ruin after the supposed winner received their one 'wish'.

He knew apparitions...he was a demon himself. The urge to destroy and cause chaos was always inside them, nagging at the back of their minds. It was simply how they were, had always been. Over the millenia, some demons had grown better at controlling their instincts and could even function normally in human society if they tried, a good example of that being Kurama but only because the _kitsune_ had grown soft due in part to his human parents. All it boiled down to was that should a low-class demon win that tournament, then the human world was going to be destroyed. He honestly didn't much care for it. He preferred the lawless and wild nature of the Makai where no one adhered to a single ruler. However, Yukina had come to the human world looking for him...and he had to keep her safe at all costs...And if the Toguro brothers won the tournament, they and "everyone they knew" would be killed. It was a lose-lose situation unless they won that Tournament.

Finally he felt a surge of energy, shifting the eye's power in that direction. She was housed in a neighborhood not too far from here but it was still normally farther than he usually ventured. He didn't see too much reason to stray far from Kurama's human accommodations since the _kitsune_ was the only person who didn't get on his nerves after awhile.

With his speed, it would only take him a few minutes to reach her, and luckily for him, she was already headed on her way out.

* * *

Hotaru opened the front door, planning to head out to town to grab a few things per Setsuna's request. She quietly closed the door behind her and locked it, not giving the task a second thought as she'd done it countless times. Turning around, she froze...the black-clad boy was right in front of her, blocking her path.

"Are you Hotaru Tomoe?"

"And if I am...?" she asked meek, hands brought up to her chest in a protective stance.

"Then draw your weapon," in a flash he had brandished his sword, "I don't fancy killing weaklings or those who can't defend themselves but that's not the case with you, now is it? Draw the weapon you used last night." he demanded, swiping his sword, cutting through the air with an audible 'whoosh'.

Hotaru paled, sweat beading along her forehead. How did he...oh no, he must have seen her de-henshin last night. And, to top things off, he even knew her name. What should she do? Should she run...should she fight...should play ignorant and beg him to stop?

"L-look, what will fighting accomplish? What do you gain from all of this? You know about the _hiruseki _stones, right? If that's why you're here, then look...I don't want them because of rare they are or how much they sell for. I don't even know what purpose they serve other that!" Hotaru explained, trying to be as thorough as possible in her explanation...she really did not want to fight him. If he was a demon, then he definitely had powers...the only difference was that he certainly wouldn't be afraid to show them or use them.

He paused, seeming to think it over as Hotaru noticed as his sword relaxed ever so slightly. It was strange the way he was just standing there, staring at her, her hands still brought up to her chest in a defensive yet uncertain way. With a precise swipe, he sheathed his sword...he was obviously very skilled with it and Hotaru was glad that she hadn't had to face him. If the way he had disappeared the other day was any indication of his powers and speed, she might not have been able to keep up with him and lose their battle, possibly losing her life in the process. "So be it." he replied softly, and with a turn on his heel, calmly walked down the walkway that lead to the Outers Mansion. It was almost as if he had been to read her mind...

Hotaru watched with mouth agape until a shock-wave of realization ran over here and forced her body into moving. "Hey! Wait just a minute! You're Hiei, right? Please..." he hadn't even so much as slowed down by the time they reached the sidewalk, "Please," she tried to reason again, "I need to know what those stones are about. It's really hard to explain but sometimes I have these dreams and they usually mean something bad is about to happen. They've never been this vague before though so please-"

"..." Hiei stopped finally, his sudden halt stopping her speech, "...you said you dreamt about them...what was it exactly?" He figured he may as well entertain her curiosity, his own just nearly peaked.

"Well, actually I-"

"There you are, Hiei. I was beginning to get worried when I hadn't seen you for a few days." Hotaru turned in the direction of the new voice, once again being interrupted before she could say what she wanted. The newcomer was a boy with blazing red-hair and deep emerald green eyes...she was sure the Inner senshi would have had a field day "fangirl-ing" over him. He spoke very calmly, telling a lot about his person...it wasn't until she folded her hands across in front of her that he noticed, "Oh, I don't believe we've met...is she a friend of yours, Hiei?"

"Friend is not the word." Hiei shot back sharply, his red eyes holding no amusement at the joke that had gone on far too long between them.

"M-my name is Hotaru Tomoe." she meekly piped up, doing a quick bow just to be polite. He hadn't asked for it but it was simply manners to introduce yourself. He returned her gesture with a simple nod and what looked to be a knowing smile.

"Did you want something Kurama?" the black-clad boy asked, forgetting the petite girl that stood behind him.

"Actually yes, but it's something we must discuss in private. I'm afraid here isn't the best choice...it concerns the Tournament." Although he was whispering, and in a dark tone that didn't fit him at all, Hotaru could tell that it was something important. And after the way Kurama cut those green eyes over to her when he'd said 'in private'...Hotaru could tell she was not wanted here. Wait just a minute...Hiei...and Kurama...

"Hiei and Kurama..." she said aloud, testing their names out which brought both boy's attention to her, "then that must mean you're the two thieves from Reikai!" Suddenly a lot more things were making sense...she just hoped she'd be getting more answers than questions in the long run.

Kurama glared her way obviously unsure of how she was aware of this fact, but Hiei kept his usual scowling face, back turned. "She was in Reikai yesterday with Botan." he explained simply, leaving the details about the stones out. He didn't feel the need to involve Kurama when he himself wasn't sure if the girl was trustworthy. The glare on her softened being replaced with more of a look of confusion than anything else. "So then...does that mean you are-"

Hotaru decided she would be the interrupter for once, "I'm just a human, that's all. I know it seems unlikely from what I know but it's the truth, honest. There's just...some things I can't talk about." Hotaru averted her eyes diagonally to the ground, knowing that she sounded totally suspicious right now. It would be a miracle if either of them decided to trust her. She couldn't tell the two demons exactly why she had been Reikai or how she knew about the two of them...Setsuna had sworn her to silence about it.

"Koenma made her swear not to tell." Was Hiei...lying for her? Why on Earth would he do that...? She pondered this in silence as the two boys made plans to reconvene at a location she didn't hear, Kurama breaking away from their group on the sidewalk in front of the Outer's Mansion still. Hotaru assumed he must be headed back home, probably only here because he sensed Hiei's energy.

"Thank you." she murmured, his back still turned to her.

"I didn't lie for you, human, don't get the wrong idea." Hiei turned here, locking his red eyes onto her person, "I still haven't made up my mind about you, whether you can be trusted or not. I'm still not sure I shouldn't skewer you with my sword. It's not your place to be inquiring about those stones, they hold no power and won't cause any kind of catastrophe other than the greed of your kind. There, is that what you wanted to know?" He was fairly certain that the dream deal had been a lie...she had to have found out about them somehow. He was rather tempted to find that out too, his theory laying with Tarukane or some strange plot with the Reikai. The girl didn't seem the sort to be hanging around with gangsters, but humans, like some demons, were excellent tricksters. Her innocence could be a mere disguise and he wouldn't fall for it.

"That does help a little bit..." she trailed off, eyes averting back to the pavement. It was nice to know that the stones held no power, could cause no great calamity within their realm should they fall into the wrong hands. So...they were just center pieces and decorations for greedy humans to ogle? There had to be more to it than that, there just had to be...Hiei was keeping something from her. It might have been within good reason as there was no trust between but still...she might as well press her luck and see what exactly she could get out of him. "It still doesn't add up to me though...if they have no powers like you say, then...why were you so adverse to me finding out about them in the first place? I don't want them for money, I don't even necessarily **want** one...I just want to know what they are and why I was dreaming about them."

They were both silent for a moment, Hotaru releasing a nervous laugh as the result, "Well, I guess to understand why you'd need to know more about me so it's okay if you don't understand what I mean."

"I've told you all you need to be concerned with." Was that his ultimatum? Apparently it was as the demon boy vanished again, Hotaru gasping with an outstretched hand as if she could catch him.

"Oh..." she groaned, withdrawing her hand back. Suddenly, she didn't feel like going to the store so much anymore. She knew she had promised Setsuna but still...this feeling was so overwhelming. Her mind was on fire and she felt dizzy. It was all she could do to grab onto the brick wall and stop her self from falling. The world was spinning...she wasn't gonna make it, she repeatedly told herself as she hobbled back in the direction of the house. She stumbled for the key that was inside her leather bag, dropped it a few times, missed the keyhole entirely a few times more but finally slid it into the lock. The tumblers fell and she gained access.

She practically crawled up the stairs, alternating between clutching at her head and her stomach...this was like...it was just like...back when she used to have those seizures.

Hotaru hadn't experienced one of these since her days of being possessed by Mistress 9. Why all of a sudden was it...? Did she eat something bad? Stressed out maybe? Influenced by the events that had just happened in some way...it just didn't make sense.

She pulled off her shoes and crawled into bed fully dressed, drawing her dark covers up over her head to block out the light streaming in from her windows. Her ears were ringing now and the room was spinning faster...if she didn't get off this "merry-go-round ride" soon, she was surely going to vomit. All she could do was force herself to go to sleep.

Go to sleep...go to sleep...go to sleep...

She chanted it like a mantra until she finally got what she wanted and needed.

* * *

A full two months had passed since then, not a single dream coming to her in all that time. Hotaru thought that the danger must have somehow past, perhaps talking with the demon Hiei had helped to quell her fears in some manner. A full two months later and she had fully forgotten about the _hiruseki_ stones, not catching a single glimpse of Hiei, Kurama, or even her two new friends Yusuke and Kayko. She had simply been going about her life as she normally had once the Sailor Wars had ended. She got up in the mornings, went to school, came home, studied and read to amuse herself (although the studying was purely optional), and then talk to Setsuna if the woman was home from the Time Gates, then repeat the process over daily. Haruka and Michiru had chosen to extend their tour and move on to America meaning the two would be gone for quite some time still; Hotaru only hoped that they would be safe as they went.

It was on one particular night that things began to turn sour.

Hotaru gritted her teeth as she tossed in her sleep...memories were flooding back to her again although her subconscious fought to keep them at bay.

It was...coming back to her now...

Hotaru lay on the floor, panting, a hand to her chest as she tried to catch a breathe. Her whole body shivered in pain as she moaned, "Not again..."she whimpered, hoping that this was all just a big mistake, that she would blink and it would all my over. Her other pale hand clutched familiar carpet, Tomoe mansion a rather familiar sight.

"Hotaru? Hotaru! Is it happening again?" It was her father...his hands were warm and comforting as he lifted her into his arms and cradled her. "It's the seizures again, isn't it?" She couldn't confirm or deny it as she could not answer or even make a movement to gesture as such. He lifted her onto the couch,

"Hotaru, just try to lay still and I'll bring you something for it. It should make you all better." And with that he was gone, racing down the hallway like any concerned parents would be. About halfway down, he paused, a dark shadow covering his features until the light glinting in from the windows reflected off his glasses. Souichi Tomoe did not exist right now, only Germatoid.

"Oh, I'll get you something alright, my great Sovereign of Silence. You need only bear with this pain for a little while longer."

The Hotaru who watched the dream would have curled her hands into fists had she not been sleeping...she hated seeing her Father like this. So this...this was what he was going through at the time of her own possession. The man himself had also been possessed by an alien from the Tau Star System.

The possessed man slowly walked down towards the end of the hall, hitting a secret switch once he got to the very end which opened a hidden paneling in the wall. Walking into the secret room, he immediately went towards an ominous-looking crystal globe. Inside, it held a portal back to their homeland of Tau and once it had become powerful enough, he would move it down to the laboratory to hook up with another machine. This particular machine once combined with the globe would open up a rift in time and space and allow their great master Pharaoh 90 to pass through unhindered. The thought alone was almost enough to make him laugh maniacally, but he managed to stop himself, knowing there was a task at hand.

Holding a pale-hand over the top of the globe, which had a small circular opening, an intricately-shaped crystal rose from within. The Taioron Crystal, the power source to all the Deathbusters. Years ago, they had sent the power source to Earth in hopes of it finding a new host...it was a risky move, they knew, for if it was shattered and destroyed then they had no hope of survival. Luckily, someone had found it. The fool of a man whom he now possessed had given their precious power source to his wife as a gift.

As they had been weak, they could not fight back physically, but they could certainly incite fear and suffering. The more the woman wore the crystal as a necklace, the more they filled her with hate, fear, doubt, and plenty of other negative emotions so that when they swelled, her pain and torment would return two-fold (if not more) back into the crystal. The power source fed on the suffering of others. As the Tau Star System was not so inhabitable, they had come to a new star system, a new galaxy, in search of victims to terrorize and feed off of. Earth had been the obvious choice as all the other planets appeared to be uninhabited, some littered with only remnants of what had once been.

It was on their way to Earth that they learned of the Purity Chalice, a mythical chalice that supposedly held the power of immortality. Imagine if they could have given that to their Sovereign! She would be so pleased with them!

The woman who'd worn the crystal, her name gone unremembered by the Tau creatures, had been more of a technicality when she died. She had filled the crystal with enough suffering to resurrect some kind of power, the Taioran Crystal quite satisfied with its new host. However, the woman had died in a fire...burning to death alone and unconscious in her house as she searched for her daughter. This little act would probably have filled the crystal with more energy than was needed but of course she had taken it off the night before so it lay untouched in the jewelry box upstairs.

A familiar set of events occurred after that. Hotaru had been rescued by her father who was still un-possessed at the time, the man having made sure his child was safe first. She had unfortunately received some burns, most of which appeared to be fatal. When the man tried to re-enter the house, the ferocity of the flames caused the windows to burst forth and blew him back. The police and firemen there had to hold the man back all the while as he screamed, "My wife is still in there!"

In just a few seconds, the 2nd half of the floor collapsed and the house collapsed in on itself. The man watched in horror and fell to his knees in disbelief, his upper body still being held by the just as surprised servicemen. Wordlessly, the men released him and backed off. There were screams and the sound of whirring sirens in the air as the firemen tried to quickly douse the fire. A lightning bolt that had struck the house at an odd angle was the verdict...all of this had been nothing more than a bad accident.

Souichi had stopped and looked at his hand, a burn-mark on the palm of his pale flesh. He had tried to force the door to Keiko's room, the guest room, open and had burnt his hand in the process. It would heal with time and ointment, but...

Germatoid grabbed the crystal from the container and made his way back to the human host who held the spirit of their sovereign within her...he didn't have to reminisce on the past when their future was sure to be a bright one.

"Here Hotaru, here..." he adopted Souichi's light-hearted, fatherly tone and knelt down beside her, "Try to sit up and put this on...it will ease your pains." If it had worked on the child's mother then surely it would have the same effect on her, all they needed was time to see.

Of course it didn't take long for the Deathbusters to discover that pure energy, like that in the shape of heart crystals, was plenty more powerful than the feeling of suffering. It was after this that Hotaru had met with the Sailor Senshi and realized her true destiny as Saturn.

* * *

Hotaru was surprised, normally she would have awoken at the ending of a dream but almost as quickly another one began to play in her head.

It was strange though, this one didn't seem like a memory from the past.

It was dark, the place just barely lit by fiery torches that stood speared into the ground. It looked to be like some kind of forest...but where? There were plenty of people standing around though as if they were waiting on something...wait a second, not people, demons and other creatures.

Her dream's eye fell finally on the only normal-looking ones there. It was Hiei! And Kurama was there too...and Yusuke? This was getting stranger by the minute. Perhaps this was just one of those random dreams that you got every night and not one of her special dreams? She also saw an orange-haired boy she didn't recognize as well as a much shorter fighter with their entire face covered by a mask. They certainly didn't look to happy about their lot in all this, their faces shadowed with a glare.

As they were the only one with humans in their team, they obviously stood out as targets.

* * *

That's when she awoke, normally, for once.

Something was pulling her, calling out to her...she looked around for her henshin stick, grabbing the wand from her side table. It was pulsating, almost like the thing had a tiny heartbeat...something was going on. Saturn's power was stirring from within it, the vibrations that traveled from her fingertips to her arms and all the way around her body told her one thing and one thing only: She had to find them wherever they where. Sitting up in bed her free hand landed on something sharp, she jerked it back wordlessly and cradled her hurt hand, hitting the desk lamp beside her to see better. It was a crystal...the Taioron Crystal.

Hotaru yelped and threw it against the wall in a frenzy...**what in the name of the seven hells was that thing doing here?** She felt no power coming from it, it was lifeless...for now. Damn thing, she growled, thinking to find a hammer or something heavy and smash the crystal into shards. But...the wand was still telling her to go and find the group, was still pulling her along.

She couldn't just ignore that thing though...

As she carefully got dressed and packed some necessities into a knapsack, her purple eyes never once left the crystal. She knew she should keep it with her if only to keep it out of the hands of an unsuspecting person but she definitely didn't want it anywhere near her. There were too many ugly memories.

The crystal lay harmless across from her on the floor, gleaming in the light of the room. She carefully approached it, wrapping it up inside of a blanket which she then locked into a small chest that was located inside her closet. For extra measure she grabbed the chair from her desk and propped it up again the door...the only thing left missing was police tape saying 'DO NOT OPEN'.

Setsuna would be gone for sometime due to her duties and other things that she vaguely explained to Hotaru about so the woman wouldn't be entering her room for sometime. She only locked the door as she left to make herself feel better about leaving the crystal behind...if she had actually had a hammer on hand she would have smashed it to bits right then and there. She hadn't even so much as cracked it when she tossed it against the wall.

Hotaru retrieved her henshin stick from her bag once she was outside...it would tell her where to go. The signals were faint but there, the more she ran, and it would be a long way, she estimated she could make it there before sunrise. Why she was senselessly following Saturn's command, she wasn't sure...Saturn was her protector and had never lead her wrong before though. What if...what if the boys were in trouble? She'd find out if she kept running.


	5. To Hanging Neck Island

_**A/N: Story is not going to follow Dark Tournament arc word for word so don't worry about that.**_

* * *

"Wait! Heeey!" she called, her voice weak with fatigue from her running, "Don't leave yet!" Hotaru waved her arms frantically hoping that at least one of the boys would turn around and notice her. Luckily they did. She'd been running for such a long time, after leaving the city her henshin-stick had directed her to forest on the outskirts of the city. After weaving through what seemed to be miles of trees she was able to glimpse fire light ahead and knew she had gotten close. Her outfit may not have been that practical for running either, possibly adding a bit to her fatigue factor as she wore a pink blouse with a small white jacket over it, a red skirt with small pink frills, dark colored stockings that reached all the way up her thighs, and flat, black mary-jane styled shoes.

"Alright, who the heck is that?" Kuwabara asked, distrust in his voice, "Any of you guys know her?" he asked, looking at both Hiei and Kurama's faces. Kurama looked over to Hiei as well to see if he would say anything, but much to everyone's surprise it was Yusuke who spoke.

"Uaah, hey! It's that girl...she's friends with Kayko." the Spirit Detective explained, not really giving anyone the explanation they truly desired, "What? Don't look at me, I don't know why she's here."

Hotaru quickly joined them on the boat where they had been boarding, stopping and practically doubling over to catch her breath. "I'm so glad...I was able to catch you guys." It was all she could think of to say, especially when she couldn't breathe still.

"So uh, what exactly are you doing here...uh, let's see..." Yusuke asked, throwing his stuff down as he searched his memory banks for a name. Kayko hadn't mentioned the girl very much since they last met so he was clueless if they even still talked or knew each other. "Ah, Hotaru, right?" he snapped his fingers and she nodded with a smile, finally able to speak again.

"Yes, glad to know you remember me, but...what are you all doing here? I was...more or less drawn here...is the boat going somewhere special?" she asked totally clueless, it was too late to back out now anyways as the boat had already left port and had set sail for wherever their destination. The orange-haired boy looked at her disbelief, on the verge of having an over the top reaction to her innocent question, "You mean you just jumped on here and don't know where we're going? I thought you were from Reikai or something!" he exclaimed.

"She's a foolish human who obviously doesn't think ahead." Hiei piped from his "perch" on the railing of the side of the ship, his balance perfectly kept. Hotaru felt her cheeks tint, well that may have been true but still...she at least had a good reason to come. If Saturn told her to come here then it must have been important but she couldn't tell them all that. Hiei might have known but he didn't know all the details, it was best if she kept the other boys in the dark about Saturn and her identity. The dream part might have been okay to go with though.

"I told you once before that I have odd dreams, but I am also able to have visions and see into the future on occasion. It's a power of mine that comes and goes unfortunately and tonight I had a dream about your group in that forest, and here I am." she explained, talking more to Hiei than anyone else since she technically knew him the best out of any of the group members. The orange-haired boy continued to look confused as he swept his glance back and forth over them all.

"Am I missing something here? Come on, don't leave me out of the loop! Wait a minute...you all know her?! Why am I the only one who gets left out of these things?" Kuwabara cried angrily although he received no answer. By this time, Yusuke had passed out on the floor of the boat, the two demon members of the group keeping pretty much to themselves, and that masked person...Hotaru certainly had no idea who that could have been, even her dream hadn't made her privy to that knowledge. Turning slightly she addressed the orange-haired boy, "Oh, by the way, my name is Hotaru Tomoe. I'm not from Reikai, I'm actually just a human like you." If she didn't know any better she could have sworn she saw Hiei roll his eyes out of the corner of her own.

"The island better have more entertainment that this." Hiei spoke up, hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or truthful. Kurama reminded them that they were not on vacation, showing that it must have been a joke of sorts. Hotaru was starting to feel a little left out herself...why on Earth did she jump on this stupid boat to start with? Setsuna was going to kill her once she found out...wait a minute, that's right, where were they going?

"You never did say where the boat was going to..." she trailed off, voice on the quiet and meek side, just barely audible above the din the other demons made.

"We're going to an island that has been designated for use for the Dark Tournament." Kurama spoke up, a friendly smile on his face but it faded, "It's just like it sounds I'm afraid, a tournament filled with teams of apparitions who fight to the death all for a single prize." Hotaru felt uneasy...of course there had to be fighting involved. "We ourselves were extended an offer to join the tournament, and well, let's say that refusing the invitation was not a viable option." She nodded, a knot beginning to form in her stomach...so, Reikai hadn't sent their team anywhere, instead they were basically being black-mailed to fight in a tournament filled with demons or else their lives were forfeit. She swallowed, her throat dry, not only from the earlier excursion but from the anxiety...would she be forced to fight any? Good thing she brought her henshin wand with her. She couldn't help but feel bad and want to help but the idea of fighting these demons was...she paused and looked around, most of these creatures didn't look any different from the heartsnatchers or phages that she had fought during the Sailor Wars. Perhaps it wouldn't be so difficult if things really came down to it. The only real problem was that these creatures actually had independent thoughts other than just retrieval, making them a bit more human-like. It was...unnerving to say the least.

Hotaru side-stepped once she realized something was coming up behind her, it was that Masked Fighter man. She must have missed something while in her reverie as the man headed up towards the newly appeared platform. Wait just a minute...were the fights already happening? She looked around at the faces of the boys in wonder, all of their locked on their strange, new teammate. Hotaru thought it best not to say anything yet and watched on with unease as the fighter much smaller than herself headed off to face a plethora of demons. What happened next was nothing short of amazing. Power and energy swirled together around the fighter before a bright, bluish light shot forth and pelted the demon creatures with ferocity, effectively killing all of them.

Hotaru couldn't believe it...when she thought fighting she just assumed it meant through physical means. So this tournament...of course, it was a demon tournament so it didn't have any rules. She cursed herself for being slow on that one. So...she turned from the platform and stole glances at Yusuke and Kuwabara. If they were humans then that must mean they had powers similar to hers...was that Masked Fighter a human as well? She couldn't sense any demonic presence coming from him so he must have been. But what was that strange energy that had manifested for its attack? Her power of destruction came from Saturn and her healing power came from using her own life energy to heal those hurt around her...this felt different though. She heard Kuwabara murmur something about a 'shotgun', wondering if that was the name of the attack.

What happened next wasn't much of a surprise, the remaining demons on the boat had grown ridiculously restless...they were out for blood in other words. To be even more exact, they wanted human blood. It was all too quickly that they became surrounded.

"Hotaru, right? I really hope you know how to fight." Kuwabara grunted under his breath, wondering if he should try and protect the girl, knowing full well that Hiei wouldn't and Kurama would be too preoccupied with his own fighting to do so. Hiei scoffed under his breathe, "Of course she can." and with that, their group dispersed, she herself scrambling off to the side. What should she do...she asked herself as she scooted farther away from the carnage taking place. It was all she could do to watch with a coherent brain...Hiei was so fast, he cleanly cut through 20 demons or more without breaking a sweat, and Kurama had summoned some kind of whip and was ripping them into pieces with every spin. Kuwabara had formed some kind of energy sword and surely wasn't to be overlooked in this fight, aptly holding his own after impaling a demon.

With a loud stomp, she looked up...oh no, she'd been spotted. A rather nasty-looking one had chosen her as its opponent or perhaps rather prey, licking his lips as he looked down on her. Her eyes wavered as she saw more headed her way. Of course, she was a female...they were thinking she'd be the weakest link to take out first. Hotaru growled, she wasn't even fighting in this stupid tournament. However before she could reach for her henshin stick, the creature in front of her began to lunge at her.

She paled, eyes wide and heart-beating in her ears. "Stop!" she cried holding her hands out as if it could possibly protest her...nothing ever hit her or grabbed her. Maybe one of the boys had killed them, taking pity on her and trying to protect. No, it was her Silence Wall...she had somehow conjured it without being transformed. Hotaru, arms outstretched, looked on in amazement as the orb of protective purple power engulfed her in small but accurate dome shape. Sensing something, she turned to look at the leather bag at her side...her henshin stick was glowing through the material. "Are you doing this...Saturn?" Leaving a hand up, just in case it was what was controlling the barrier, she fumbled through the bag and grabbed the wand. "You want me to call you, right?" Hotaru whispered, questioning the stick as if it had been the celestial warrior herself talking face to face with her.

"Saturn..."

But she didn't get far, the barrier burst from the inside out, the rush of power forcing the demons back. It surprised her but not so much as what happened next. Before she could continue with her transformation phase, the wand in her hand continued to glow and surge with power, then began to reshape itself. It was her Glaive...why was Saturn doing this? Why wasn't she able to transform?

No time to worry about that, she decided as the demons had gotten back up and they were charging with a vengeance. Hotaru panicked, she couldn't use this weapon all on her own...was Saturn trying to teach her how? It didn't make any sense to her but she would have to go along with it if she wanted to survive...and she did. The polearm weighed a good bit, an ancient relic really from the Silver Millennium, but she was suddenly able to swing it with such ease...it was Saturn. It had to be. The celestial warrior was controlling things from behind the scene. After she had sliced through a few demons, she felt the power leave her and knew she was on her own. If she kept practicing like this then maybe she would become proficient enough with the Glaive all on her own...it was almost...fun. No, she reprimanded herself...fighting was not fun. It was never the answer and was only necessary when talking, reasoning, and everything else had been attempted. It was Usagi that had taught them all that it was possible to save the entire world without anyone getting hurt.

Hotaru breathed heavily, her arms already sore from carrying the polearm, the weapon still a little too heavy for her to wield on her own. It had grown quiet...was the battle over with? She looked up...the boys were looking at her strangely, that was to be expected though, she had just pulled a weapon twice her size from practically nowhere.

"Well that was unexpected..." Kuwabara mumbled, his energy sword having disappeared from his hand.

"Hmph, so you can use that weapon then?" Hiei questioned, a rather smug look on his face. She could tell that he was trying to undermine her on purpose, possibly provoke her into attacking. She only shook her head, "I can, but I don't enjoy fighting at all...only when its necessary." he closed his eyes and grunted, his shoulders moving slightly in a movement that told her he no longer cared.

Hotaru stared up at the weapon glinting in the moonlight...how was she supposed to put it away?

It wasn't like de-henshin where she could simply go back to her civilian clothes...this was just the weapon. 'Saturn, this is your doing, right?' the girl thought, addressing the other persona that lived within her thoughts and memories, 'Why do all this? Why now?' But the Saturnian soldier was quiet, Hotaru unsure if she couldn't talk or simply refused to. The staff of the pole-arm glowed a dull purple color, a tiny humming vibration running throughout it before it shrunk down back to her henshin-stick. Hotaru stared at the wand in her hand, still not comprehending what Saturn was doing or was planning. She'd have to contact her later when the boys weren't around lest they think her even stranger than they already did.

She glanced around, the boys no longer paying her any attention as they were closing in on the island, something she definitely didn't mind...whatever took the focus off of her. Although still unconscious she had an idea of what Yusuke was like when she met him earlier with Kayko, the masked fighter...she wasn't even sure if the others knew his identity. Kuwabara seemed kind, slow, but kind. Kurama seemed that way too but his air of distrust about her shown through possibly more than he realized. And Hiei...

The boat jerked fiercely back and forth, signifying that the vessel had come to shaky but sure stop against the port.

* * *

Hotaru sat alone in a hotel room of her own. After realizing that the room that had been allotted to the boys only had a set number of beds, she knew she would have to find a room of her own; not only due to manners but Haruka would kill her if she found out...it was funny how Hotaru still worried about what her adoptive 'papa' would think even when she was so far away. Of course, she'd been offered the bed but Hotaru couldn't accept and went down to the hotel management to plead with them. It hadn't been an easy thing to do, the clerk immediately depending some kind of payment in return.

She could remember patting the pockets of her skirt, realizing that she'd brought no money with her on this trip, thinking she wouldn't need it. She tried to explain to him again, even going so far as to namedrop the boy's team...she had to stay here, Saturn brought her here for a reason and she wasn't going to be outed just because she couldn't find a safe place to sleep. She could tell the clerk was about to lay into her but never did because someone popped up right behind her at that moment,

"How rude! I can't believe you'd treat guests like this, not mention you're talking to the alternate fighter of Team Urameshi! As the team manager I am simply appalled at what I'm hearing! This is clearly gender discrimination!" Hotaru blinked, it was Botan. But how did she...oh, right, she was a guide to the River Styx...she may as well have access to every place imaginable. The blue-haired girl winked as she glanced over, basically telling her she had everything under control. Hotaru hoped that alternate fighter business was just part of the lie.

"Don't you worry a bit, dear, we'll have you a room in no time. Quite the courageous thing you did coming along on this journey, I might say." Botan had been a ball of energy as usual, Hotaru unable to keep up with her but grateful in the long run as the clerk hastily went to find them an unoccupied room close to the boys. Botan had explained to her that Koenma had seen the whole trip here, and Botan herself just couldn't sit by and miss all the action nor watch the injustice being done to the poor girl.

Once in their room, Hotaru was able to set down the small amount of belongings she actually had and set up camp on her side of the room, assuming Botan would take the other bed, but when the blue-haired girl looked as if she was about to leave Hotaru stopped her with a question.

"Huh? Oh well, actually, I kinda hafta explain to Kayko and Shizuru about where Yusuke and Kuwabara have disappeared off to...well, at least a very convincing lie." Hotaru watched as she laughed uneasily, obviously quite unhappy about this part of her job.

"Are you coming back?" Hotaru asked uneasily, she didn't want to spend the night alone in this room but...it wasn't like she had any other option. She didn't know Botan all that well but the girl was friendly, reminding her of the more energetic Senshi she knew.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world! I'll be back before you can say 'bingo'!" the girl laughed, summoning her oar and disappearing out of the hotel window. Hotaru shut the glass behind her, locking it as she did so.

Now what...she questioned, alone in the room. As the memory ceased to replay in her head, Hotaru looked around. It was so quiet in this room, well-furnished and well-kept for a place that was supposed to be crawling with demons. She at least thought she might hear noise coming in through the walls. Hotaru decided that she'd take a shower in the morning, having only brought one pair of pajamas and another outfit, she'd have to make it last especially since she didn't spy a washing machine anywhere in the room or on the way inside.

Hotaru decided the only thing left to do was head to sleep for the night, not exactly eager for the tournament to begin tomorrow. All it meant was fighting and bloodshed, and since there were demons here, there would definitely be some under-handed tricks going on.

Hotaru jumped, thinking the window had shattered, her head snapping around to look. The window lay perfectly untouched, not even being rattled by the window. Hurriedly, she crawled out of the bed covers and ran to the wall that connected to the boy's room. Maybe it was coming from here? She waited...she heard muffled voices, some unfamiliar ones. What had been the shattering noise though? Some laughter, maybe from a small kid? The door of the other room opened, the vibration causing her own door to rattle. Moving quickly, she sank to her knees and opened the door, trying to glance into the hallway for a peek. A tall blond man and a smaller boy dressed in bright colors...who were they? Friends? Enemies? Hotaru was definitely tempted to ask the guys but thought better of it...they might mistake her as one of those two and attack her.

She sighed...she never should have come here.

Oh right, she had planned to contact Saturn...but no, if the walls were thin enough that she could hear something breaking and the sound of voices, then that meant they could surely hear her and with Kurama and Hiei being demons, their hearing was probably much better. Hotaru replaced her henshin-stick from where she had grabbed it with gusto, sadly laying it back down. She didn't really want to watch the fights...maybe if she stayed behind in the morning then she could speak with Saturn for awhile, then go to cheer the boys on. That would work pefectly.

With the light still on, Hotaru nestled into her bed ready for sleep. Maybe those dreams wouldn't find her here...her eyes shot open.

In all this confusion, she'd forgotten to tell Setsuna where she'd gone, nevermind about the Tioron Crystal showing back up with no explanation. Still though, the crystal was locked in her closet and there was no one around for it to draw energy from. Setsuna was still at the Time Gates, most likely, and no one but the girl herself ever went into the room. She was so tired though...contacting Setsuna would have to wait until the morning too.

* * *

Darkness. Inky, black darkness...it was not normal, it was almost as though the darkness had formed into a giant cloud that choked the life from the very air itself. It was difficult to breathe here, he had to hold his arm over his nose and mouth to get fresh air. No stench hung in the air, it was just...smoky, for lack of a better term. Where was this place?

He didn't dream often. Dreaming would require a much deeper slumber, something he only allowed himself to do after a long training session and/or in a place that provided protection; he'd be damned if he came under attack just because he dozed off. So why...why had he fallen in like this? He couldn't afford it, he had to wake up in case those two from Rokuyukai happened to show back up; having Yusuke unconscious was bad enough.

Someone cried out.

He found himself in a physical form inside his dream-like state, being able to walk despite the looming darkness that filled the place. He couldn't explain why he was following it, chalk it up to instinct. Besides, if he was trapped in this dream world for now, he might as well go ahead and get this dream over with.

The invisible pathway on which he walked lead him to a small room, closed in on all sides save for the one he entered. It was dimly lit, a small candle flame flickering in the corner. Despite the poor lighting, his eyes trailed over to the adjacent wall where a shadow was formed by the candle...it wasn't his own. So he wasn't alone, he remarked, looking over his shoulders at the other body in the room.

It was girl, age indiscernible but her frame was small and her voice was weak. She whimpered, he unsure if she even knew he was there. She was shackled to the wall, wrists and ankles, and under her neck ran another iron chain; it had not been put there to choke, but to keep her head from falling forward in fatigue and possibly breaking. Was this some kind of torture room? Her eyes were covered with a dirty piece of cloth, but he stood silently and watched and the girl squirmed and maneuvered her head until the blindfold slipped ever so slightly down. A small teardrop rolled out from beneath it and the girl eagerly licked it with her tongue. No wonder she was so small, she was starving, dying of thirst too, it was only a matter of time before she succumbed to one or the other.

He stood there and stared...this was just dream, he had no obligation to help her. She wasn't real, just a figment, a hallucination. Everything around him felt real, but he was able to tell his mind that it wasn't. He didn't even know her...she did seem familiar but...

"What's your crime, woman?" His question startled her, fiercely trying to scramble away from the sound of the voice. Had it really been that long since she'd heard a voice? She never moved far because of her bindings, and was unable to speak due to her thirst so instead shook her head. So she wasn't here because of a petty crime...then why? He stood motionless, hands hidden within the confines of his cloak. The girl didn't move, probably no more energy to do so, her earlier movement the product of some kind of short-lived adrenaline.

He definitely hated to admit it, but his curiosity was getting the better of him and so silently moved forward, crouching down in front of her. As he went to pull her blindfold to see her eyes, the cloud of darkness fell over him like a fog.

* * *

Hiei awoke and looked around. The room was dark but definitely not empty, he having fallen asleep on the window left the furniture free.

What a ridiculous dream...he couldn't even place the girl. Maybe she'd be somewhat recognizable if her eyes had been visible...


	6. The Dragon Emerges

_**A/N: Hotaru and Saturn are separate beings unlike the other senshi; they are basically two entities sharing the same body while the other senshi just transform to use their powers. Hopes that clears up any confusion.**_

* * *

Hotaru awoke to an empty room, the rays from the un-curtained window beating down on her face. Ugh, she felt really drained...that power from yesterday must have really wiped her out. She slowly sat up in bed, the covers slowly trailing down her backside as she did; she hazarded a glance around. She could already tell she was alone before then, but...what should she do first? She'd already woken up kind of late so she was probably late to the first tournament fight.

She felt a rumbling in the pit of her stomach...oh right, she hadn't eaten breakfast. She wasn't one for eating big meals, most of the time just letting herself get by on various snacks like protein bars, one of which she pulled from the contents of her bag and began to munch on. It was then that Hotaru noticed the folded piece of paper on the nightstand by her bed. It was from Botan telling her to come to the boy's room when she got the chance as they would all head over to the arena together. Hotaru carefully replaced the note, no amount of rushing would help since she was certain they'd already left.

After her small breakfast, she headed to the bathroom where she brushed her teeth and began to prepare for a quick shower. It was strange how melancholy she felt about all of this all of a sudden. As the water from the shower head began to grow progressively warmer, she leaned her tiny back onto the opposite wall of the shower and slid down it.

"...Saturn, can we talk now?" she asked, feeling now was the most appropriate time since it would be hard for any passerby to hear her through the sound of the running water, demons excluded of course, but she didn't have much to worry about that since the boys weren't opposite them anymore.

Soundlessly, and without effort, an ethereal form of Saturn appeared some ways from her. The warrior shared her looks down to the roots of her hair. If both could have been physically present at the same time then surely they would be mistaken for twins. She appeared just as she always did, looking however Hotaru did at that exact time. It didn't matter, they were technically one; the absence of clothes was definitely no big deal to either of them.

"What is it?" the warrior responded, a cold, steely tone to her voice, much different than Hotaru's timid but kind voice.

"Why are we here...? What's the purpose in all this?" Hotaru asked, her eyes cast downward, staring at the water that swirled down the drain.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you at this time. But...in time, you will come to understand."

"Saturn, I expect Pluto to be the cryptic one...not you." Hotaru was almost pouting, this scene not unlike an older and younger sister picking on each other. "Is it something to do with a new enemy? I thought the Sailor Wars were over...I thought...I thought for once we might actually have a chance at living a normal life, at least for a little while. I know in the 30th century, things will take a turn for the worse at one point but that's so far away from now-"

"Hotaru," Saturn cut her short, her arms still crossed over her chest just like when she appeared, "you mustn't worry about that, there are greater problems at hand here. I've felt a strong presence around you for awhile now. It is familiar but I'm not certain it is altogether friendly."

"Is it one of the them? Hiei, maybe?" she'd spent more time around him than anyone else here.

"I'm afraid I can't tell at this point, it is very faint. Whoever it is is very skilled at hiding their real power level and energy. We must be on our guard no matter what."

"So it is a new enemy..." Hotaru sighed.

"I didn't say that." Saturn reprimanded, then sighed herself, "As your guardian, I will protect you...you have my strength to aid you. I do not see where your cause for concern is. I understand that you hate confrontation, I know that more than anyone, but it is a necessary evil. Currently, we are surrounded by demons, all of which would love to cut your throat open and not think twice about it. Do you understand?" Saturn was trying to pep-talk her back up and all of what she was saying was true.

If there was someone around with an aura or energy that concerned Saturn, then all they could do was wait and be ready until it revealed itself. She heard Saturn give a grim chuckle, "After two years of being inactive, you'd think we'd have more to talk about than just argue." Hotaru sighed and looked back down at the drain,

"Sorry Saturn..." she whispered, truly apologetic; Saturn was a part of her and although she put on a pretty good poker face, Hotaru knew better than anyone that Saturn despised being alone. She felt horrible then as the realization hit her and washed over just as the shower water did.

True, she and Saturn had talked plenty of times over those two years of peace but Hotaru had no reason to call on her directly meaning that Saturn hadn't been in full control of their body until that night of the demon attack at the park; the 2nd time she'd come into contact with Hiei where he possibly learned her secret as being Sailor Saturn.

Saturn reached down and extended a hand towards the girl, "Come on Hotaru, let's go. We're already late as is." Hotaru gave a small smile, sensing that Saturn had forgiven her if she was even truly upset to begin with, and grabbed the warrior's hand who then pulled her to her feet. Once on her feet, Hotaru blinked quickly and Saturn was gone, returned to her conscience...but something wasn't right...she felt dizzy...had she turned the water too hot? Maybe the steam was just getting to her, it was time to get out.

Hotaru reached for the knob to turn off the water but she stumbled and slowly slid down to her knees, passing out against the wall as the water continued to pelt her small figure.

* * *

Hotaru awoke...or at least thought she was awake but she was no longer in her hotel room, much less the shower where she'd lost consciousness earlier. Of course, this had to be another dream coming to haunt her...who knew what it would hold this time? Another tragic moment from her past, or another vision about the spiky-haired boy? Once she had learned about the _hiruseki_ stones, she'd almost completely pushed the boy from her mind...now what exactly did he look like again?

It was cold, freezing...below freezing really as her body quickly realized. It was snowing and here she was in nothing but that familiar white shift she'd worn the first time the dreams had begun to appear to her. She had no shoes, no gloves, and obviously no sleeves...it would be a miracle if she walked away from this without frostbite. Oh right, she had to remember these were just dreams but...they felt so real...

Suddenly, her eyes caught the sight of a dark silhouette in the distance. The white snow flurried around quickly, making it almost impossible to see where one was going and yet...the figure stuck out. Hotaru trudged her way over to the figure as quickly as possible, petite arms still wrapped around her body for warmth unsuccessfully. The closer she got, the more she could see...the figure was a woman. She was of average height, meaning she was taller than Hotaru, and seemed to carry something within her arms. She could just make out the outline...it was a baby.

The snowstorm seemed to increase at that moment, causing her to bring a hand up over her eyes to shield them. The woman appeared to be talking to herself, mumbling something as tears streamed down her face...wait a minute, Hotaru noted, were her tears...sparkling? _Hiruseki_ stones!, she gasped, watching as the tears that fell from the woman's cheeks disappeared into the snowstorm then glinted once crystallized as they fell to the ground.

"Heeey!" Hotaru tried to call out, perhaps not the most polite way to get someone's attention but it was difficult to speak and hear, the girl being almost blown away after speaking. Hotaru uncovered her eyes that moment to see a rather gruesome sight, the woman walked closer to the edge of the mountain (Hotaru had assumed it was a mountain due to the snow and the strange way it seemed to cut off on one side). Extending her hands over the edge, she let the bundle fall from her arms to the world below.

"Nooo! Please don't!" Hotaru felt as though she were screaming bloody-murder, but the snowstorm became so loud she thought she might go deaf. Finally, it swirled around her and blocked her vision and again she feel unconscious.

* * *

Hotaru jolted awake still on the floor in the shower where she had originally been only now the shower head was sputtering cold water all over her. Quickly, she jumped out and grabbed a towel, not wanting to be in there in case something happened again. Another dream, another scenario that she didn't understand...it had nothing to do with her or Saturn...so was it the spiky-haired boy then? Had he been the baby...maybe? She hadn't been able to see the baby's face though...she shivered, she was so cold.

Once dressed, she stood in the middle of the room and called out to Saturn, "Alright Saturn...what's with these dreams? I know you know why..." But the warrior was silent. Maybe she really didn't know. Hotaru sighed and reached for her communicator from the inside of her bag, dialing Setsuna's near identical one.

"Setsuna-mama, I-"

"I already know," the Plutonian senshi interrupted, "I understand, but don't think I'm happy about your decision. Koenma sent Ayame to inform me of what's going on and I don't like it, that tournament isn't something you should get mixed up with. There are too many things going on behind the scenes..."

"I'm sorry," Hotaru apologized, casting her eyes away...now she was practically using Saturn as an excuse. She chose not to say it figuring that Setsuna already knew anyways. Setsuna's gaze softened and her mouth formed into a smile, she would have had the girl trapped in a hug had she been there in physical form,

"It's alright, just please be safe. Saturn has her own agenda to follow...I may not understand but I'll try to back you both up as best as I can from here. It's the strangest thing..." Setsuna trailed off, looking over her shoulder, "The timeline is going haywire in some places but almost immediately seems to fix itself."

"But isn't that normal sometimes, Setsuna-mama?" Hotaru questioned, still not having dropped her childish nickname for the older woman.

"On occasion this can happen but I've always been aware of it, just as when Small Lady became Black Lady and the timeline became skewed. Same scenario when Nehelenia kidnapped Mamoru and Chibi-Usa began to disappear. This time...I'm completely baffled. It's like someone is right here under my nose trying to rearrange time as they please. Anyhow, I can't leave any time soon...you and Saturn are on your own with the tournament."

"Okay...oh wait, Setsuna-mama...I was talking to Saturn earlier and she mentioned a familiar aura nearby but didn't know who it was...I think that's one of the reasons we ended up coming along since that person or thing might be here. Do you think it could be related to the timeline problems?" Setsuna was a calm person, and it was amazing to see her this calm in a situation that seemed so dire; if the timeline continued to reorder and move around on its own, the Time Gates would become unstable and shut down and then who knew what could happen? Seemed like their task of finding that person might become a little more urgent than they first thought.

"Quite possibly...did she say anything else?"

"Just that the energy she'd been feeling was faint but familiar, and that whoever it is they're very skilled at hiding their real power. I thought it might be Hiei at first since he's the only one here I've been around really, but I don't think its him...Saturn's been active since the Silver Millennium so it really could be anyone, right Setsuna? She's come into contact with so many people..." Hotaru wasn't saying that Saturn was casting the blame on Hiei, she just didn't want the blame to be on him period. It just couldn't be him...she didn't know why but she could just feel it.

"I see...inform me immediately if you have any updates, and please keep in touch so that I know you're alright." From a serious tone to a motherly one, you had to hand it to Setsuna, Hotaru smiled. The two said their goodbyes and clicked their communicators closed. Hotaru finished dressing by putting on a pair of ankle-high boots with a small heel; they seemed more practical for the situation and they went well with her non-descript black outfit, similar to the one she had met first Chibi-Usa in.

As she headed for the door to leave, she caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eyes...bags. Had Botan come back last night and dropped some stuff off? Seemed like too much stuff for once person, especially someone who was free to come and go as she pleased. Hotaru recalled the conversation from last night...maybe Kayko and that Shizuru person were staying in here with her? She was sure to find out later as she headed for the boy's room across the hall...she might as well check and see.

She knocked lightly, not expecting an answer. When she didn't receive one, she let herself inside to find the room pretty much how it had been when they arrived...save for the mess on the coffee table. The table was stained with what looked to be coffee, especially obvious after seeing the shattered coffee cup next to it. So...that was the shattering noise she heard last night. Could it have been the two strangers leaving the room that had done it? The boys wouldn't have much reason to do it.

Since the room was void of any occupants she decided that she may as well head for the tournament grounds, but something attached the back of the door caught her eye. It was an envelope with her name on it. Inside was another letter from Botan who explained that Kayko and someone named Shizuru were now here and they would all be sharing a room with one another. It also told her directions to the tournament grounds just in case, at the bottom of the note was an attached ticket, courtesy of Koenma apparently. Good thing Botan had given her this...she wouldn't have known what to do when the ticket-taker demanded one.

And so, off she went.

* * *

Earlier that morning, the Urameshi team had headed out earlier than needed, dragging a still sleeping Yusuke in tow as they went. Before the match began, the group had been granted a small waiting room of sorts to pass the time in or basically do whatever they saw fit as they waited for the match to actually begin.

Hiei hadn't put much stock into his dream from the night before, merely brushed it off as a hallucination of some kind. Maybe this tournament was even starting to get to him...he cast his red eyes over to Kurama, a clear expression of unrest was on his face.

"Kurama, you may actually want to focus on the upcoming match," he shot out, watching as the red-haired kitsune blinked in surprise and looked over at him, having obviously been lost in thought about something. Hiei shot a silent question to him as to the nature of where his focus had been, Kurama's face growing serious all over again,

"It's actually about Hotaru-"

"Why her?" Hiei interrupted quickly...he was actually growing quite tired of talking about her. Last night, she'd only been brought up in conversation briefly but it was enough to irritate him...the orange-haired buffoon had questioned the nature of their relationship of all things and Kurama, although normally tolerant, had irritated him too when he addressed the girl as his friend. He had his beliefs, his code, and wasn't about to change that because of some random human girl...'friends' were a crutch for the weak.

"That weapon she wielded, it has me intrigued."

"I highly doubt she would give you a demonstration of it, Kurama. I've tried to coax her into facing me a few times and each time she backs down."

"It's not that, Hiei," Kurama answered knowingly, knowing full well that the fire demon would love nothing more than to face an opponent with such an unusual weapon, "It's actually about the nature of the weapon. I'm sure Koenma would know more about it, but that weapon she wielded...I've only ever seen one like it before. It's a glaive-type of polearm, but it has two blades rather than the normal one."

"Where are you going with this, Kurama?"

"Back in my time as Youko, I heard of a legend about warriors who came from beyond the Solar System, or rather simply, warriors from other planets. There was one particular ruler that was feared even by others like her...I believe they were called celestials. She wielded a glaive as well, called the Silent Glaive by some. It was said she had the power to destroy an entire planet simply by lowering the glaive and releasing its power. I always thought the story was just a fable but now..."

"Please don't tell me you're actually suggesting that that girl is some planet-destroying warrior from the stars are you?" He could only briefly remember the stories about those warriors...it was some silly child's bedtime story told about female warriors who represented the planets of the Solar System and ruled over them. They were also said to hold mystical powers but he'd never heard anything like destroying planets...now that surely was real power. Too bad it was just silly conjecture.

"Who knows...if Reikai keeps secrets for her and about her than who's to say she's not more than what she seems?"

Hiei's scowl darkened...he didn't like that thought. That night in the park, the night of the demon attack, he had seen her appear in some silly costume that had no practical use in combat. Some silly aura had been around her almost like it was trying to hide her identity, but his Jagan Eye easily overcame it and he could easily tell it was her. It only confirmed things further when the girl somehow transformed back to her original clothing like it was nothing. Did that silly costume she wore really mean anything...could she really be one of those warriors from the stars he'd hear about back in Makai? He could actually remember hearing some demons clamoring on about how they planned to catch celestials and harness their power but...nevermind, he had more important things to focus on.

Or so he tried to tell himself, unable to get the dark-haired girl or her strange weapon out of his thoughts. If she really had such power then he would have been able to feel it...or, if she was one of those warriors, then she would have lived a long time and learned how to conceal it. It bothered him, he hated to admit it, but not knowing was actually getting under his skin. He would have to coax her into a fight somehow, get her to unleash just a little bit of that power...then he would know for sure. If she wasn't then it didn't matter, she was just another human. But if she did...

"Will Team Urameshi please come to the arena! The first match is about begin!"

* * *

Hotaru found herself facing little opposition as she passed by the ticket-taker...she obviously didn't look like a demon but she supposed anyone with a ticket shouldn't be hassled. Glancing down at her ticket stub, she looked to find the area where she was designated to sit. It was an arena-like setting, like one might see for sporting events on t.v. only this was a tournament for demons...which meant she'd more than likely end up sitting next to some. She grimaced, much rather preferring to be down near the arena with the boys...at least she might feel safer there.

Once on the outside, she could hear the yelling of the demon spectators and the sound of an announcer yelling into the loudspeakers. This surely wasn't going to be pretty. Hotaru looked down at her ticket stub again and followed the seating, surprisingly again being un-hassled as she went...she just hoped they were all too focused on the fight.

"Hey Hotaru, over here!"

Her purple eyes scanned upward and to her left at the call of her name, "Kayko! How are you?" she asked, running up the steps to met her.

"Not too bad, I just really wish Yusuke would wake up and actually do something...they're locked in a tie right now!" Kayko explained quickly that Kuwabara had lost his match while Kurama won his.

"Calm down there, girl, we're not even half-way through these fights." Hotaru looked over, a young woman with long brown hair laid a hand on Kayko's shoulder to relax her. The woman looked tough, a burning cigarette hanging from the corner of her mouth as she spoke. "By the way, nice to meet you. The name's Shizuru Kuwabara, and before you ask, yes, I am related to him. He's my baby brother."

Hotaru giggled at her bluntness, she was like Haruka and Makoto rolled up into one. The two girls scooted over and made room for her as they turned their attention back to the arena. "Oh hey, I see Botan..." Hotaru laughed, wondering if and when the blue-haired girl would show back up. Well, she had mentioned that she was the team manager's...but she'd also said that Hotaru was the alternate fighter...the thought still made her uneasy. "Who's fighting next?" she questioned as neither teams made a move.

"Just keep watching and listening and you'll find out," Shizuru hinted, all three girls' eyes locked onto the cat-like announcer standing the middle of the arena. Beside her stood a tall blond-haired demon...Hotaru didn't really consider him too out of the ordinary looking, at least not compared to some of the demons that sat around them.

"Team Urameshi, any day now!" the announcer ordered again, extending a hand in their direction, she was obviously ready for another blood-bath to begin. Hotaru couldn't help but wonder what was taking so long for them to decide on a fighter...was something wrong? Eventually, she watched as Hiei stepped forward and jumped into the ring. So...she could finally see what he was capable of...

Shizuru chuckled, "You can stop clenching your fists so tight, I'm pretty sure he can hold his own out there." Hotaru blushed, looking down at her hands...had she really been doing that? She folded her hands back down into her lap, unable to keep her palms from gripping her knees, and turned her attention back to the fight about to take place. The two fighters in the arena stayed almost perfectly still, a conversation going on between them most like; the conversation wasn't audible was still able to be detected through the announcer's microphone.

Hiei's opponent, dubbed Zeru by the name on the score board-like contraption, began first. He conjured up flames and began to throw them in Hiei's direction, but this did little to phase the fire demon as he easily dodged each one that came his way. Hotaru smiled, she wasn't quite sure why but she couldn't quit her grin...she almost wanted to stand up and cheer a little but held herself back; getting jumped by demons didn't seem to be the best option right now. This went on for awhile until Zeru conjured up even more flames and wrapped them around his body until he was as red as a burning cinder; the announcer girl wasn't kidding when she said he looked like a fire poker.

Hotaru had almost stopped paying attention despite Zeru's transformation, certain that Hiei would have no problem winning this but then...her mind went blank, still trying to register in her mind what she had just seen. Had he been...run through? She didn't want to believe it, she couldn't believe it! But...she'd just seen with her own eyes Zeru puncturing Hiei's chest and set him ablaze.

She found herself standing on reflex, her voice coming out more powerful than she thought possible, "Stop it!"

Time felt as if Pluto had slowed it down, everything seeming to move in slow motion but her. That's right, she was running, she was moving, heading down the steps towards the wall that separated the seating from the actual arena itself despite Shizuru and Kayko's attempts to stop her. She found herself jumping over the wall, landing pretty firmly on her feet just as Haruka had taught her to do so long ago during combat practices. She honestly had no clear idea of what she doing, no clear objective in mind, and it wasn't until someone grabbed a hold of one of her wrists and pulled her back did she wake back up to reality. Luckily, she avoided feeling embarrassment as everyone seemed too focus on the burning body that used to belong to Hiei.

It was Botan holding her back, wordless herself. Seems like her grabbing Hotaru had been pure reflex as well. "Botan, is he...?" Hotaru choked out, unable to find her voice. It just...it wasn't right. He was strong, fully capable of beating this other guy and yet this happened? She would have reacted this way to any of the boys getting hurt...right? Then why did she-

No, it was over, the match was about to be called in Zeru's favor. Hotaru wanted to scream out again, trying to tell herself it wasn't real but that's when a burning figure got back onto his feet with ease. Thank goodness, she could feel her lips forming the words but no sound came out...it was still quite terrifying to see him emerged in flames like that. She knew Hiei was a demon, so...he was specifically a fire apparition then.

Now that she was closer to the arena, she could actually make out the conversation between the fighters. He was...mocking Zeru, a swirling cloud of dark energy slowly beginning to collect around his right arm in a wispy spiral. The other man seemed genuinely terrified; Hotaru never having heard of such a technique in her life. A dragon made of pure darkness that lived in the Makai...that was terrifying enough to think about. A cold chill ran up and down her spine, the hair on her pale arms standing straight up despite her long black sleeves. Something truly demonic was coming, something that was evil in pure essence...she could only watch on as the very world around them seemed to crumble. Strange...this feeling was familiar...it was almost like when Saturn destroyed the Silver Millennium. The ocean that surrounded the island on all sides seemed to spring to life and pool up into giant springs that reached toward the heavens. The skies darkened and crackled with energy. The more energy he seemed the draw on, the less he seemed to be able to control as a stray wave crackled, got loose, and headed for them.

Hotaru avoided the wave as Botan pulled her out of harm's way which had only, thankfully, happened because of Kurama pushing them.

"He really intends to unleash it!" Hotaru could just barely hear the red-haired boy proclaim, and from what she knew of the normally calm and calculating Kurama, this had to be bad if it put him on edge.

"You should have never insulted the Jagan Eye. Because you see, in a way it has it's own mind and loathes disrespect. Resisting it is not something I would do. I have the power to pull you into oblivion. I assume just my right arm will do."

Hotaru cast a look up at the giant monitor that was broadcasting the fight for those seated in the upper rows. There, in the middle of his forehead...that must have been the Jagan Eye he was talking about. She never would have suspected that that was his reason for wearing that headband...wait a minute, his right arm? Was he really planning on sacrificing his right arm to summon that dragon thing?! She wanted to open her mouth and yell out for him to stop, but again her voice was nowhere to be found, swallowed up in the abyss that was being created by the dragon's dark energy.

"Dragon...of...the Darkness...FLAME!"

From the fire demon's arm came the dragon, practically exploding with power as it flew towards Zeru. There was no escaping this creature, no thought of it ever crossed his opponent's mind...there was no escape. The explosion that followed, dark energy hitting flesh and bone, caused everyone to shield their eyes, only able to wait until it dissipated to see the outcome.

"Wow, amazing!" exclaimed the announcer girl once the dust has cleared, now resuming her position back in the arena. "I've...I've never seen anything like it before! But where has Zeru gone?" Hotaru scanned her eyes back and forth...where had he gone? She was just as blind as everyone else until Hiei acutely pointed out the black, ash-stained wall of the arena.

"Believe me, he won't be coming back."

Hotaru gulped...amazing power. How could she not have felt this power within him even though she'd been standing right next to him on multiple occasions? Hotaru's face blanched, growing a little paler than its normal shade...someone who was good at concealing their true powers...no, it couldn't be him. Hiei couldn't be the one Saturn mentioned...and by default that meant he wasn't the one messing with the timeline either, right? True, she had no proof that the two incidents were related but she had her hunches. He wouldn't do anything like that...he may have once been a thief but he wouldn't...he wouldn't even have access to that information...

She noticed that Botan had released her by now...the damage done to his arm hadn't gone unnoticed by Hotaru either. But should she approach him? She had to admit...she was scared of him now, scared of what he would do should she get on his bad side which she feared she was already on.

"U-um, Hi-"

"Hey Urameshi team, what's with the party going on down here? Only fighters should be allowed down here, you know?" Hotaru turned to see the announcer girl practically staring them down...she definitely was a stickler for her job, that was for sure. Hotaru didn't say anything, just looked away...she knew she wasn't supposed to be down here.

"Hey, hey, now! This is our alternate fighter you're talking to, Koto, and just because she can't fight right now doesn't mean she can't be down here!" Hotaru was really going to owe Botan one...how many times had the blue-haired girl stood up for her now?

"Alternate fighter?!" a few rounds of that question went up, some from the team themselves.

Koto grimaced...well, it was their funeral if they chose to use a wimpy girl like her. Oh well, she had a fight to announce so time to get back to it.

Hotaru turned her gaze over to Botan, she quickly thanked her but couldn't help asking, "What's with all this alternate fighter nonsense, Botan? I wasn't originally part of the team so how can I-"

"Oh don't worry dear," Botan smiled, laughingly placing her hands on the tinier girl's shoulders, "You won't ever have to actually fight, believe me. See, the rules are that each team is allowed to use only one alternate fighter and that's only when one of the original 5 has been killed." Hotaru nodded her head numbly. She was relieved to hear that but the other half of her told her to be wary, after all, she was certain that that match had been the end of Hiei. The girl turned her purple-gaze over to the injured apparition. He had lost his cloak and shirt, now hiding his injured arm within the confines of his pants pocket. She may as well approach him, she couldn't stand to see anyone in pain and not offer to help.

"U-Um Hiei," she started again, this time not being interrupted as Koto (or what Botan had called her) was too preoccupied with looking for a fighter from the other team. "if you're hurt, I can heal you. It's a power that I was born with so-"

"No one wants your charity, woman, I'll heal on my own." he shot back, never letting on just how much pain his now paralyzed right arm was in. He couldn't afford to show weakness, especially not here. Besides, if he took the easy way out and allowed his arm to be healed without overcoming the pain of calling on and using the dragon, then he could never truly master it.

Hotaru gasped, not so much surprised by his reaction just the force of his interruption. "I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean to-" She did a quick bow, apologetic, and began to power-walk towards the entry way that the boys must have used earlier to access the arena area. She didn't care where it led, she would find her way out, she just wanted to be far away from everything right now. She knew better than to try to...and yet she still did...Hiei wasn't her friend, she knew that, none of the boys really were. Yusuke had been kind only after Kayko had reprimanded him. Botan and the girls were friendly enough at least but she was still an outsider to them. She practically knew nothing about them...but she wanted to. She wanted to be included. It was strange really, but she had felt this same way toward the Senshi especially after learning that Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto had originally tried to kill her.

She, like Saturn, hated to be alone. She hated to be excluded from things. Sometimes, she and Saturn were a little too alike, Hotaru remarked grimly with a sad smile.

The hallway led out to a small waiting room area. It had only one door so she followed it, it taking her to another hallway with an elevator situated at the end. She found it would take her back up topside to the outskirts of the dome, and rode it to that level. As she exited, she noticed a blur run by her...was that Shizuru? Hotaru left the elevator and watched the figure run off into the darkness...should she follow or not?

What could it hurt? That had definitely been Shizuru but who on Earth could she have been chasing? She immediately ruled out the option of someone coming to look for her as they would have had to have taken the same route as she. Unfortunately she eventually lost sight of the girl after turning many corners. Strange...she had been right there a minute ago...maybe her eyes were really just playing tricks on her...maybe she just needed sleep. Then again, with her dreams, maybe not.

After following a crowd of demons to the entryway, Hotaru decided to make her way back to the hotel. She didn't want to watch anymore fighting, anymore killing or bloodshed...it had been hard enough to watch just one match. She hated being so tender-hearted...it times like this that she really wished she were more like Saturn.

* * *

_**Wow, thanks a whole bunch for the reviews everyone! They really mean a lot to me! :) Makes me glad I decided to continue this story.**_


	7. Fight Me

_**A/N: Thanks (as always) to anyone who reviewed. Also, I went back and made some changes to Chapter Six so please give it a read if you have the time.**_

_** aquafina_rain: First off, many thanks for the reviews! And I was hoping someone would have noticed my little quirks in the story (one of the loneliest senshi feels ostracized from another group other than the senshi). Also, I've always DESPISED stories where the YYH boys are all up in the grill of whatever scout or scouts as it may be in the story...they're just not the type. Yusuke even says in one episode that Hiei and Kurama are too untrusting so yeah, that's kind of evidence right there. Super glad you think Hiei is in character, he's so hard for me to write and I feel like I'm doing him injustice. XD And don't worry, you'll meet this mysterious power soon enough; I like to think he fits in very well with the plot. And you're welcome, this story practically writes itself! Hope you stick with me for awhile! :)**_

_** Mew: I was hoping you'd still check this place every now and then. And I never got to say it but your Princess Bubblegum cosplay was adorable! I hope you had fun at your con! :)**_

_** Taeniaea: Thank you!**_

* * *

"Hey sad-sacks, you could at least smile. They won the first round fights so what's not to cheer about?"

Hotaru and Kayko, looking very much alike, raised their heads simultaneously at Shizuru's comment. Hotaru hadn't been aware of it at the time, as she had gone back early, but Kayko had followed in her footsteps practically when Yusuke fought his match. She didn't find that strange at all, she could tell from the moment she met the two of them that they had a special relationship. But her on the other hand...she had no excuse...she couldn't help but wonder if Hiei had payed any attention to her actions during his match?

"S-sorry.." Hotaru murmured, not even trying to muster a smile, turning her gaze away from the group of unfamiliar girls.

"Yeah, you're right Shizuru!" Kayko replied, almost instantly getting her pep back. She couldn't stay sad and upset when there were so many that just made her angry. "Besides, I could tell, during that fight Yusuke was smiling...it was the happiest I've seen him in a really long time. It's almost like...he belongs here."

"Oh Kayko, no sense in dwelling on that!" Botan piped up, forever cheerful, "You too, Hotaru...and don't think we didn't see all that, missy!" Botan chuckled, holding out her thumb as she did so. Hotaru blanched then blushed, nearly rising from the spot on the floor where she had sunken back against the wall.

"No, it's not like that!" she protested, "I was just worried...that's all. I don't really know how to explain it..." Hotaru trailed off, her voice a mere whisper by now. How could she try to explain something she didn't even understand herself? What was this feeling that tugged at her heart...and why?

"Oh that's simple, really, it's just crush that's all. Very normal." Botan rattled on in a knowing voice, a sing-song manner to it. Hotaru shook her head to signify that that wasn't the case but whether Botan saw it or not, Hotaru was unable to tell because the girl said nothing further about it. By this time, Shizuru had lit up another cigarette, puffing out a cloud of smoke as she turned her attention to Hotaru,

"That reminds me...so Hotaru, seems we don't know a lot about you. Botan said you weren't from that Reikai place so what brought you here?"

"Um, well..." Hotaru began, looking up with a half-smile...maybe if she explained a little bit it might help her situation with the group. Maybe they would be more accepting of her...maybe they would push her away for good.

"Oh, before you start," Botan exclaimed, jumping up and running over to their cooler as she did so, "I know a couple of boys who'd definitely be interested in hearing this story. Let's grab some snacks and drinks and celebrate the win! What do you think?"

"I'm up for that," Shizuru agreed, taking a can of beer from Botan's hands while Kayko and Hotaru politely declined. Technically, since Saturn had been alive since the Silver Millennium, she was definitely old enough to drink but that didn't mean she could stomach the taste of alcohol. Saturn on the other hand didn't really mind it so much but that was only when the warrior was in control. "Hotaru, would you be a dear and grab some things for me?" Botan questioned, her arms already full of food, drinks, and a pack of cards, and she was slowly forcing Kayko to carry things too.

"You two go ahead and take that, we'll be there in just a sec." Shizuru informed, Hotaru raising her eyebrows in confusion at the older girl. As Botan and Kayko disappeared to the room across the hall, Shizuru turned her attention to the purple-eyed girl, "Look, it's okay that you were worried, but you don't have to walk around like its the end of the world just because he was being an ass. Am I right about that?" Hotaru felt her eyes waver, possibly because they slightly wanted to fill up with tears...she hated being so sensitive but...it wasn't fair that she got treated like this no matter where she went. Still, Shizuru was right.

"I may not know much about you yet, but I could tell by the way you acted earlier that you care about him, may not be as a friend but that's your business and not mine. Still, if we're rooming together than you need to put a smile on that pretty face of yours and walk out there like nothing happened, you got that?" She did smile...just like earlier she couldn't stop it. It was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. In that instant Hotaru was unbelievably thankful that Shizuru was here...it was like having Haruka back by her side. "Trust me, it's no fun hanging around with someone who feels sorry for themselves all the time."

Hotaru nodded, "You're right, Shizuru...I'm really sorry. I was just...I wanted to help because Hiei was hurt and I have healing abilities so..." Shizuru waved her hand, showing that she didn't need to explain.

"Save it for the other room, kid, now help me grab this cooler. We're gonna need more stuff than I thought." Shizuru laughed, the two girls able to hear the ruckus already coming from the room across the hall.

* * *

"And now everyone, the moment you've all been waiting for...Hotaru's background story!" Botan cheered, slightly tipsy as she put the girl on display causing her to blush. "Botan..." Hotaru mumbled, staring down at the drink she held in her hands, slightly wishing she could disappear into her soda can...that place seemed dark and unreachable.

"Geez Botan, you're making her sound like some kind of criminal." Kayko pointed out, to which the majority of the room agreed.

"It's okay...if you really want me to I can. I guess you all really don't know much about me...my name is Hotaru Tomoe. Both my mother and father died when I was very young so I was adopted by my new family, Haruka Tenou and Michiru Kaiou. You might have heard of them-"

"Michiru Kaiou, the violinist prodigy?! She's your adopted mother?" Kayko proclaimed, the girl having been an avid listener of her music. "But she seems much too young..."

"Well, that's kind of complicated to get into, but...I do have another woman who takes care of me and is more like a mother-figure. Her name is Setsuna Meiou. Botan, you've met her." Botan nodded, but didn't say much else...she was still sworn to secrecy by Koenma and Setsuna about the whole celestial princesses thing...unless Hotaru spilled the beans first which she was kind of hoping that she would. The blue-haired girl took the chance to sneak a glance at Hiei out of the corner of her eye; he was still sitting in the window sill, trying to look bored and uninterested...so far he seemed to be successful in his task but Botan knew that wouldn't last long.

"Let's see, I go to school on the opposite end of town from all of you guys and I live in that really big white mansion on-"

"Please forgive me for interrupting but I'm afraid we're all more interested in that weapon and how you came to possess it. Your powers, too." Kurama spoke up. Hotaru was unnerved at how deeply he distrusted her but she supposed it was only necessary...he and Hiei were demons after all and couldn't afford to be too trusting of just anyone. She had to give the red-haired boy credit though...he was very apt to learn about her fighting skills and weapon, that way he would know how to formulate a strategy to beat her should she ever turn out to be an enemy. Strange, a memory of Ami flashed across her memory...

"I see..." Hotaru mumbled, looking down before looking back up, "My weapon, the one you saw on the ship, is a polearm called a glaive. Not many people use one like mine nowadays due to its heavy weight, long length, and being double-bladed instead of the single one."

"So yeah, riddle me this Batman, how did someone your size come to fight with that behemoth?" Yusuke asked, not really intending to get involved in this conversation but then again, he figured, what would it hurt? Besides, that was a question on everyone's mind. Hotaru, on the other hand, was at a loss for words...6 pairs of eyes were staring her down, all of them basically excluding Hiei who was unknowingly listening with bated breath; this was the information he'd been seeking the past few days...he just wasn't the type to take a direct approach when it came to it. Hotaru didn't know what to do, other than apologize to Setsuna immensely later and hope that the woman knew how to erase memories or something.

"Well...I guess I could tell you but...I'm not really supposed too." Hotaru whispered again, her voice growing weak in the midst of being stared down. Kurama nodded his head, opposite of her, "Is there a reason you have been sworn to all this secrecy? Something to do with Reikai perhaps?"

"Nothing like that, Reikai isn't involved. For starters, I guess, I was born with the ability to heal wounds. Before I got control of it, the power used to wipe me out a lot because it draws from my life-energy. And right now, I am Hotaru, but I also have another spirit that lives within my soul. Her name is Saturn...she's the guardian senshi of the planet Saturn who lived during the time of the Silver Millennium. Before it was destroyed, she was a celestial princess who was feared by the other rulers and was eventually sentenced to an eternal slumber. When our kingdoms were attacked by the forces of Earth, Saturn awoke from that eternal slumber and brought ruin upon everything. Many years later, Saturn was reborn on Earth as the rest of the senshi were only...Saturn wasn't herself. Saturn's spirit became trapped, more or less, within my body therefore only one of us can exist at a time in the physical body."

"Whoa whoa kiddo, you've got to slow down. Silver Millennium? Senshi? You wouldn't happen to have a cheat sheet or a handout for all that information, would you?" Shizuru said jokingly, stubbing out her current cigarette into the only ashtray available in the room.

And so, Hotaru went on to explain about the Silver Millennium, a glorious time that existed eons before they were born that took place in the solar system. The Moon Kingdom was thriving under Serenity's rule, but her daughter had come to fall in love with a male Earthling and due to the plotting of a jealous Earthling queen, the Moon Kingdom and all the other planet kingdoms came under attack as well. Saturn and Titan Castle were not excluded but thanks to the siege, Saturn was able to awaken and throw the remnants of the Silver Millennium into oblivion. Saturn's powers were still double-edged, as they always had been and will be, which caused her to die and be reborn on Earth with Princess Serenity and the guardian senshi who protected her as best they could during the fight. Pluto wasn't present as she was guarding the Time Gates as it was her duty. Once the senshi were reborn on Earth, they slowly gathered together to fight enemy after enemy and had just recently had been released from their fighting in the Sailor Wars, as they had come to call them.

"Huh...wow, that's a lot to take in. But you know that still doesn't explain why you're actually here." said Kuwabara, pointing out something Hotaru was still questioning herself. She supposed the dream story was as a good as any. On the other hand, she was a little shocked to see them taking this so well...maybe they were just used to weird things like this.

"Well, you see, sometimes I'm able to have short glimpses into the future, normally of the next enemy we were supposed to face. Just recently though, I started having dreams about a young boy and something called a hiruseki stone."

"A hiruseki stone?! Does that mean you know Yukina?" Kuwabara jumped up, surprising the smaller girl who numbly shook her head...she had no idea who that could have been.

"Also, Saturn told me recently that there was a power nearby that had her concerned. We're to try and find out just who this person is because Pluto and I believe that this person is messing with the timeline and if the timeline becomes skewed...literally anything could happen. Reality as we know it could fall apart." Suddenly, lightning crashed and thunder boomed from outside, causing the lights to dim and black-out for a moment. One of the girls gave a scream of surprise as the darkness enveloped them but was quickly re-lit, although very sparingly, by the moonlight streaming in from the window.

"Calm down people, it's just the stupid faulty wiring in this hotel." Yusuke ordered, having a sneaking suspicion that the one who screamed had been Kayko.

Botan stole a glance over at the window, curious as to why there was no shadow being cast from Hiei who had been sitting in the sill...well, that made sense since there was no one there. Hiei must have slipped out but knows how long ago...how much did he actually hear?

With a light crackling sound, the lights popped back on and everyone retook their seats. Hotaru gave a small cough to signify that there was more to her story and began to start but Kuwabara spoke first,

"So...I'm still confused about this whole two-person deal going on. Are you possessed by some evil spirit? Which are you now anyways? And who's the original one?"

"I'm Hotaru...trust me, you'll know Saturn immediately. She's only able to take over the physical body when I transform into Sailor Saturn. Saturn was alive before me, but this is my body..." Hotaru trailed off, she'd fought hard to keep the last one safe from Mistress 9 but things just happened to not work out. She'd be damned though if another evil spirit tried to possess and take over her body again. "And it's not really confusing, it's not like we're able to keep switching out back and forth whenever we want too. I'm in control the majority of the time, whenever I transform with my henshin-stick...(here Hotaru reached into her bag produced the said object) she takes over. See? I hope that clears up any confusion, and I hope that doesn't mean you'll treat me any differently." Hotaru gave a small laugh as she began to replace the stick, but stopped for another question.

"But you didn't do so on the ship and still conjured the weapon." Kurama pointed out, still very much interested in her story. So, she was a technically a celestial...he had many things he wanted to ask her and yet those would have to wait. At least Hiei must have been glad to hear the truth, now maybe he could get that sparring match he wanted.

"True, but that time was...a fluke, I guess. I was trying to transform but Saturn didn't respond. Instead she just morphed the henshin-stick into the Silence Glaive."

"So it is the Silence Glaive...correct me if I'm wrong but with that weapon you have the power to destroy worlds by merely bringing it down, correct?"

"Hey, what are you saying?" Yusuke asked, mirroring everyone's face of concern, surprise, and immense worry.

"I'm afraid you're right," Hotaru answered before Kurama could explain his reason for asking why, "my weapon is the Silence Glaive, the weapon that the Messiah is said to have wielded that brought death and destruction whenever the weapon was brought down. It's a very dangerous power, I understand that Kurama," she responded, finally seeing where he was going with all of this, "but I've had years of practice to keep it under control."

"Un-...unbelievable...the little girl who's even shorter than Hiei has the power to destroy the world whenever she feels like it." Kuwabara said in a tone that was hard to tell if he was joking or just too shocked to show any other emotion. Everyone save for Kurama felt themselves gulping in shock.

"It's alright, my powers are 100% in check, I promise, and I can't be persuaded to use that power so easily. There is a very hefty price to pay for using my power."

"Your life." Kurama supplied, eyes closed as he nodded his head downward. Hotaru nodded back in response, death never a fun subject to talk about.

"Welp...we know never to piss you off." Shizuru kidded, Kayko muttering a 'Wow...' under her breath. All this attention was making her blush...she wasn't even sure this was a good kind of attention.

"I hate to ask but...are we...okay now? Do you trust me? I know that our objectives are different but-"

"Oh please Hotaru, you don't even have to ask! Of course we trust you, we're friends. And after all, I think our teams needs, nay deserves, to have a princess capable of destroying the world in its midst. Whadda ya say?" Botan laughed with Hotaru returning her smile; she knew the girls would be more accepting of her but...she stole a glance over at Kurama who gave a smile of his own and nodded, showing that she had his trust. Yusuke and Kuwabara didn't seem to have any objects so that just left...oh, he was gone.

"Oh Hotaru, one more thing, I was just curious but does the crystal strapped to your bag have any special meaning?" Kayko asked as a round of conversations went up around them. Hotaru blinked, bringing herself back to the here and now from where she had been spacing out wondering about where and when Hiei had slipped out from around them. He must have been good about it if the boys hadn't even noticed or maybe they just chose not to say anything. Wait a minute...crystal? Hotaru rapidly turned her purple eyes to the leather bag with the single strap she'd grown accustom to wearing...sure enough there was something wrapped around it. It was...the Taioron Crystal...but how? She'd left it locked up in her room and...and...

"This can't be!" she jumped up, snatching the crystal so harshly that the strap on which it hung snapped. Hotaru jumped over Botan's legs from the girl's position on the floor and ran to the window, rapidly throwing it open and tossing the crystal out into the darkness of the night and storm. She stood panting for a moment, her horror-stricken face slowly disappearing as she felt eyes on her... "Oh, um...sorry about that..." she apologized, making a quick bow at the waist as she shut the window back and latched it closed.

"Anything else you wanna tell us?" Yusuke asked, eyebrow cocked, normally people didn't throw expensive looking jewels out 5th floor building windows without good reason, that much he knew.

"I honestly never thought that thing would come back to haunt me...that thing is something called the Taioron Crystal. A long time ago, it was the power source for a group of invaders from outside the Solar System called the Death Busters. It was thanks to one of their members, Mistress 9, that I ended up losing my body. We were able to defeat them and I was reborn and allowed to start life over again...it happens every time I die." Hotaru explained, retaking her seat on the couch. "I honestly have no idea how it got here. Those strange dreams I told you about...after having one like it one night, I found that thing in my bed with me and tried to dispose of it by locking it in my closet. That thing...must have a mind of its own..." Hotaru shivered, casting her eyes away from the group and towards the window as if the crystal might magically appear, floating. It didn't.

"Hotaru, don't worry about it...if an old enemy has come back to take revenge then we've got you covered. Our boys can handle anything you throw at them so they'd be glad to help." Three nods when up around the room then, Botan leaned forward and said in a hushed voice while sticking out her thumb, "Yes, even Hiei too."

"Botan, it's not like that!" she whispered with ferocity; had it not been so soft then she definitely would have yelled that.

* * *

"Oh dear..." said a very smooth voice. It was attached to a very handsome young man who looked to be no more than in his twenties; short black hair, purple eyes, pale skin. "It seems my lovely bride doesn't like my wedding present and to think...this is the 2nd time she's rejected it. Seems we're going to have to change her mindset, eh boys?" the man asked, his amethyst eyes slowly deepening to a burning red. In the shadows around him, numerous pairs of eyes sprung up, all of their eyes the same blood red color as his.

"Yes master! Yes master!" the chorused together, before the entire group broke out into a round of laughter.

* * *

Hiei couldn't believe it...that little girl, that little brat really was a celestial? Those people actually existed...they really weren't just a part of a silly fairy-tale. So... she was the one who was able to destroy the planet in a single blow? If that immense pain hadn't been tearing at his right arm so badly he would have found it to be trembling...but in what? Fear? Excitement? He had to know. He was even more interested in her, that weapon, and if she was a celestial then did she have that power alone or did others share it? It made him angry, gritting his teeth, as he threw a well-aimed punch with his uninjured arm at a tree, knocking it clean in half.

He'd slipped out of sight a while ago, staying close by but hidden so as to be able to hear her story. He really hadn't wanted to seem interested and forced himself away before any questions could have fallen out of his mouth. No more of this slinking around though, he decided. The first time he'd tried to get information out of her, it was a bust...she was only interested in talking nonsense and trying to get close to him, form some kind of friendly bond. And of course then Kurama showed up as well which really dampened his true plans. She didn't want hiruseki stones...and yet she was looking for a strange power? It seemed pretty suspicious to him.

Thunder boomed overhead, another flash of lightning, and the rain was upon him. Strange...could _he_ have been the one she was searching for...but why? It made sense once you thought about it. She claimed to have been having strange dreams about a boy and hiruseki stones...after the incident with the stones he had little doubt that the boy in question was him. Then, she mentions her companion, the other one inside of her soul, sensed a very familiar power nearby but couldn't put her finger on who. Then again...was he even anywhere close or was this all meaningless conjecture? It was something else he'd had to confront her about soon.

* * *

Morning...when had she fallen asleep? Hotaru could feel a yawn coming on, rolling over from her sleeping spot on the couch. She saw Botan on the floor, Shizuru on the couch opposite of her, and Kayko a little further away on one of the beds...had they really fallen asleep in the boys room? It had to be early, the ferocity of the sun's rays was being blocked out by the drawn curtains and the boys were nowhere in sight. If she had to guess, they must have left even earlier, possibly before the sun was up to go and do training.

She sat up quietly, looking around for her shoes. If the boys had gone out for training this morning, then it gave her an idea. Maybe if she could find Hiei, she could persuade him to let her heal him. If there was no one around for him to show pride in front of then maybe he would let down his guard just a little bit.

Hotaru decided against showering since she hadn't done much yesterday but make a fool of herself, just a quick change of clothes would suffice for now. She quietly crept from the boys' room full of sleeping girls and headed back to their room. She didn't have much option as to her next change of clothes despite Botan telling her that she could borrow some of hers; the girl only forced to wear to the pink kimono when she was on official Reikai business. Hotaru had a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't fit well if anything because Botan was a lot taller than she was.

However, she spied a suitcase on her bed and decided to inspect it. There were only two double beds in the room, with her and Botan sharing one, and so she figured it must have belonged to the blue-haired girl...strange though, she didn't remember seeing it last night. On top of the case sat a lone note, and unfolding it, it read: Dear Hotaru, thought you would like to have some more clothes, love Setsuna. She smiled, Setsuna could be sneaky when she wanted to.

Dressing in something meant a little more for summer, a short-sleeved shirt this time and another skirt, she made her way out of the hotel. She honestly had no idea where she was running, obviously, but the island couldn't have been that big. If her hunch was right, the boys were probably scattered out somewhere in the forest a little ways from the hotel. Their next match wasn't until late in the day so she supposed she had the time to aimlessly wonder. It gave her plenty of time to wonder how Haruka and Michiru were doing over in America...the next time she found a telephone, she'd have to call their hotel room number. She'd memorized it, rolling the paper back and forth between her fingers on occasion right after they'd left. And the other senshi...what were they doing? Ami was away on school while Mina, Mako, and Rei were all busy with their careers. Usagi had moved out of her parents house and into Mamoru's apartment where she played the role of housewife while working a part-time job on the side. Crystal Tokyo was coming a lot sooner than they realized...huh?

"Excuse me, miss?"

Hotaru turned, the voice unfamiliar. In an instant she knew she shouldn't have, the air felt cold and yet she could feel sweat break out on her forehead. Whoever this was, he felt strange...he must be a demon too.

"Um...yes?" she answered back, hoping the man had legitimate business with her and not the typical 'I'm going to kill you, human' type of business.

"You wouldn't happen to be Hotaru Tomoe by any chance would you?" his smile was friendly but unnerving...had his eyes been open when he smiled, it would have sent a chill down her spine. "I've been searching for you for quite a long time, miss..."

"Who...who wants to know?"

"You may call me...Kizami." It was impossible to have missed the aversion of his eyes, almost like he had been searching for a name.

'Hotaru, run! This man is dangerous!' It was Saturn...she had to admit that she wasn't fond of his aura either but if Saturn was warning her then it was definitely time to go.

"Um, excuse me, I have to be somewhere." Hotaru announced, turning on her heel and running even further into the depths of the forest, praying that he wouldn't give chase to her.

"And now my lovely bride runs from me...shame, shame." he chanted, a horrific smile plastered to his face, eyes wide and slightly bloodshot. He supposed he could follow her a short while, and better yet...with a snap of his fingers, the crystal disappeared from his hand, appearing back in her room at the hotel. What another nice surprise for her, eh?

* * *

Hotaru panted, holding onto a nearby tree for support. Looking behind her, she stared into the maze of trees, watching to see if anyone emerged from their depths. Thankfully no one did but she also didn't feel like waiting around to found out. After her running exertion, she'd found herself very close to the sea shore, mind you, it was a cliff side view of the sea. She'd probably done it absentmindedly, the sound of the sea a comfort to her like none other. It reminded her of the time, back when she was younger, when she became lost. She'd run to the beach because it was the place that reminded her of Michiru the most.

Putting her hand to her ear, she listened for the calming sound of the waves hitting the cliff side, something she didn't get to hear often since it was different when it hit flat sand. Strange, she thought, she could hear someone...someone in pain...she hazarded a step closer and a look off the side down towards the water.

She gasped and jumped back...it was Hiei. Had he seen her? He probably sensed her, but whether he would say something had yet to be seen. What was he doing down there? He looked like he was doubled over in pain...the pain in his right arm finally overtaking his prideful nature. In the midst of no one, perhaps he felt it better to unleash the anguish he felt but Hotaru wasn't sure...maybe, he was trying his best to overcome it rather. In light of that, she almost felt selfish at the thought of offering to heal him. He was trying to overcome it so healing it in an instant wouldn't help anyone. She wanted to stay but what could she accomplish by doing so? Nothing.

Hotaru, though on her guard, headed back towards the hotel after one last look at him. There it was again...that strange pull at her heart. It made her stop in her tracks...on second thought, maybe she should stay.

"What the hell do you want?" Hotaru frowned... he was right behind her. How she thought she could get away without a confrontation was beyond her. "I already told you I don't need your help."

"I'm sorry...I didn't meant to offend you. I didn't realize that you were...I'm sorry, I'll be leaving now." she bowed to show no hard feelings, and turned to leave but it surprised her when he spoke up.

"Last night, was that story of yours true?"

Hotaru blushed...was he actually interested in learning more about her? No, no, she wouldn't push her luck on that one. Responding, she said, "Yeah...I know it may seem a little out there, but every word of its true, unfortunately."

"That power-"

"I can't use it. I'm not sure how much you heard but I can't use that power..."

"Don't interrupt me, woman. Is that power yours alone or are there others like you?"

"...I'm the only person left of my people and the only one who possesses that power."

He was quiet then, staring her down...what was he thinking about though? It unnerved her, the same way it had when Kurama glared at her with distrusting eyes. Hiei seemed to believe her. Finally, he laughed...well, it was more of a scoff really.

"You know, it actually took me a while to figure it out. You're not the one who possesses that power, but the other spirit within your soul. That stick you possess isn't even a weapon, it's some sort of channeling method to call on that spirit's power. That power is not your own, and I have no time to deal with weaklings who rely on others to save them." With that, he began to walk past her, Hotaru left standing there with a dumb-founded look on her face. Finally, she seemed to snap out of it and turned to confront him,

"That may be but Saturn is my friend! We're practically one and we always fight together!" He seemed deaf to her proclamation, continuing to walk away from her, right arm hidden away in his pants pocket again. Hotaru's eyes wavered with tears...why...why was he...? Suddenly, she felt sleepy, like her conscienceness was falling away...was Saturn coming out? Was she able to do that without being transformed?

'Saturn, no, just let it go!' Hotaru pleaded, clutching at her head as she sank to her knees, groaning as she became unable to support her own weight. The last thing she saw through her physical eyes was Hiei turning around to see her.

"Very well then, perhaps you will have the nerve to deal with me." Saturn ordered as she became the dominant spirit, Hotaru's body still in her regular clothes rather than her senshi wear. The Saturnian warrior climbed to her feet, crossing her arms as she adopted a more confidant and powerful stance. "You would do well not to insult Hotaru. She and I are one and if I so choose, I can hand that power over to her in an instant, any time I please."

"Then why don't you? Let her fight me with her own power then maybe I'll consider her a real threat." The fire demon responded, knowing full well that he couldn't use his full power with his right arm being out of commission but he'd be more than enough to deal with a weak, little human girl.

"You must already consider her a threat or you wouldn't want to fight her so badly. Could it be you are wary of her because of our powers of destruction, that maybe if you can beat her then you won't have to worry about her over-powering you one day?" It was Saturn's turn to give a scoffing laugh.

"Don't twist my words, you miserable specter."

"As you wish, now draw your sword...if you're able. You would do well not to mock Saturnian royalty, Earthling." Saturn shot back with snark before disappearing back inside of Hotaru's conscience, leaving the girl's body surrounded with overflowing power. Saturn had left Hotaru with henshin stick in hand which then transformed in the Silence Glaive.

"Wait a minute, why don't I get a say in this? I don't want to fight!" Hotaru shouted, throwing the glaive to the ground with an audible clack, Hiei relaxing the grip he'd had on his sword.

'Hotaru, don't stand there and be insulted, fight back!' Saturn commanded, very rarely was Hotaru subject to this particular harshness in the warrior's voice, 'Show him the error of his arrogant ways!' Hotaru shivered and hummed in disdain as she bent to pick up the weapon.

"Fine...let's do this then..." Hotaru swung the Glaive around a few times to get used to it, a look of sad reluctance clouding her face. It was heavy thanks to Saturn's absent power, but now that she had more of a feel on it...it was very similar to the spear she had practiced with once during one of Haruka's fencing lessons. She hadn't been a part of the class of course, left to her own devices with the dojo and gym's array of weaponry to use.

She barely had time to block before his sword made contact with the polearm. He was fast...very fast, she wasn't sure she could keep up with his movements. And he didn't even seem handicapped with the use of his left arm...Hiei probably thought so, but no opponent would have been able to tell the difference. Again, he was gone in a flash, nothing but a black blur moving swiftly through the air, his blade shining in the light the only indication to his position. Each time she was just barely able to block him, each hit of his weapon against hers setting her more and more off-balance. There was no way this could be deemed a real fight unless she fought back.

Hotaru closed her eyes and swung out with the Glaive, the long weapon surprisingly taking little time to cut through the air...unfortunately that was all it cut. As it was, polearms were better suited for piercing strikes but it was the only way for her to make any breathing room. Horizontal slashes were effective as well due to its length, but again her weapon failed to hit any part of the fire demon. It felt like he was toying with her...it almost made her angry...if she thought of this as more of a training session with Haruka then...

"Ha!" she exalted, finally finding her fire as she became to unleash twirl after twirl of the Glaive over her shoulder, effectively creating the shape of a ribbon or the infinity symbol. She threw piercing strike after the next, and even jumped back once, grabbing onto the very bottom of the Glaive and swinging it around for a distanced swipe.

"Your form is sloppy and tires you out." he chided, Hotaru knowing that full well. This was the first time she'd actually been able to use the Glaive herself, surprising that she had even lasted this long with it. Still, it was old and heavy and she hadn't been trained for this particular weapon. It was foreign although her hands had technically held it many times. Even though he was armed with only the use of his left hand, his sword was familiar, something he'd used for quite a long time and that gave Hiei all the advantage he needed. She could feel her breath growing shorter, her arms growing weaker as the muscles in her arms begged for this new action to cease as soon as possible but she had an idea.

"And to not mention," he began again, landing a few feet away from her, "you would do well not to scream your battle strategy so loudly." His back was to her, now would be a good chance to try and strike a hit but she stopped...she hadn't been screaming...she hadn't even mentioned anything about...wait a minute. She watched as he turned back towards her, a red glow just barely visible from beneath his white headband. That third eye of his...it must have been able to read thoughts. Great, telepathic opponents were always fun foes to face...

She'd have to rely on bare luck in this fight, slightly hoping he would slip up.

Finally, she thought she had her chance. She caught onto his position quickly, the swing of his sword seemingly slower than it had been before. She wanted to scream gotcha, but thought better of it as she aimed the dual-bladed Glaive right for his sword. In an instant she had captured it and with all her might, twisted the weapon sideways in hopes to break his sword in half. May not have been the best idea as he would have needed it for the tournament fights but she refused to go down so easily, especially not with Saturn putting her trust in her like that. But she heard no cracking, no splintering of metal just another swoosh of him jumping into the air...she'd hit an afterimage, and he hit her square in the back of the head.

Hotaru fell forward, skidding a few feet from where she had been. Dammit all, she'd lost...and she was pretty much face down in the dirt too so that ruled out any chance of a dignified loss. She wasn't hurt by any means, well physically she wasn't, but she felt awful for losing in front of Saturn...and maybe even worse for seeming very weak in front of Hiei.

"You need more training, then we can have a real fight."

So he wasn't disappointed...right? At least he saw that she had potential to get better...that was a start and one she would definitely take. She didn't know why but she was blushing, a hopeful blush maybe...?

She heard a laugh, a chuckle of sorts, after Hiei had disappeared from her sight. Realizing she was still sitting in the dirt, climbed to her feet as Kurama emerged from the shadows. She quickly brushed the dirt from her outfit off and went to rub her cheek as well, just in case. "Please, don't hold anything against him. He has good intentions but just doesn't know the best method of getting them across sometimes."

Hotaru shook her head with a smile, "It's okay, I understand. I'm actually glad..." she trailed off, forcefully stopping herself before she could say more. She just hoped the reason her heart felt like it was about to fly out of her chest was because she was tired.

"That's good, I didn't want you thinking otherwise...especially after what Botan told me." Hotaru blinked, her mouth a thin line as her face echoed confusion...was Kurama looking mischievous?

"What exactly did she tell you?!" Hotaru demanded, her face flushing red...there was no telling what could have come out the River Styx Guide's mouth.

"Oh, well just that..." Kurama paused and averted his green eyes away from her, aptly sticking out his thumb as he did so.

"It...it's not like that! We're just-!" Hotaru cut off, she had planned to say friends but she could tell Hiei didn't like that word. "It's not like that..." Hotaru murmured, turning her eyes to the ocean off the cliff side. Why on Earth was Botan trying to play match-maker when Hiei didn't even consider her to be on par with him...she had to refrain from saying friends but any other way just sounded much worse. And after all that, Saturn definitely didn't have a good opinion of him. But yes, 'friends' was a good place.

She sighed, there were still plenty more tournament fights to get through.

* * *

_**That was a long one...anyhow, a few things I'd like to address: I know Koto is a fox demon and not a cat but it's hard to tell at first glance hence the way Hotaru addresses her. "Kizami" is an original character (though his name is fake), and depending on what way it's written, it can either mean 'time' or 'cut'...pretty fitting I think. And for anyone wondering about the 'thumb joke', whenever you stick your thumb out, it means you're talking about that person's boyfriend or male love interest; adversely, sticking out your pinky signifies your girlfriend or female love interest.**_

_**Next chapter, we'll be fast forwarding ahead so be prepared for that! This story has become my pet project for now so I definitely want to think my reviewers!**_


	8. Kizami, Pt I

_**A/N: Okay, warning, this chapter is horrible. I hate it and no matter how many times I tried to re-write, it still sounded bad. Next chapter is much better, I promise.**_

_** reven228: Thanks, but it definitely wasn't my best and I honestly don't think this chapter is any good either. And yes, as a matter of fact, I decided to introduce them in this chapter. I originally was going to leave them out but it's hard for me to that because I love all the senshi girls and I think when they actually make their appearances to the YYH group, it will flow quite nicely.**_

_** aquafina_rain: Oh wow lol, your review really made me smile a lot. XD Yes Kizami is our main villain for the better half of this story; I like to imagine him as a cross between Lelouch from Code Geass (appearance-wise only though), and Gin Ichimaru and Nnoitra from Bleach. After I went back and re-read I totally forgot to give a proper description so that was bad on my part. Also, thanks again for your remarks on characterization since I honestly feel I'm not doing them justice. I normally don't mind KuramaxHotaru stuff, I do enjoy it on occasion, it's just personally very difficult for me to write since I started shipping HieixHotaru when I was like...12? I can't remember lol. And Kurama is one of those characters I couldn't write in-character to save my life. XD And I do try to include every character I put in my stories as equally as possible...I figure if you can't at least give them an interesting role then don't put them in there at all. And oh my dear, hopefully you'll get tired of Kizami or grow not to like him as he is supposed to be the villain and will start to do 'villiany' things in this chapter. Thanks again!**_

_** Mew: OMG, you'd make the perfect Fionna! And thanks, always nice to know I can still create tension between couples instead shoving them at each other like I really want to sometimes. XD**_

* * *

Hotaru panted, mentally hearing Saturn congratulate her for her endeavors. Since her first spar with Hiei (he didn't count it as a real fight), Saturn had agreed to train her to use the glaive better; the only price had been her missing the boys' matches at the Tournament but she could have done without those. They were very close to the finals now...in fact, the semi-finals were supposed to take place today, she recalled. She was glad that they had made it this far, but it had been a long and hard journey on all of them.

She'd been eager to learn how to wield the massive weapon on her own but she couldn't help wondering if Saturn may have had an ulterior motive to all this...she wanted Hotaru to be strong and to stand on her own but when would a time like that ever come? She hated leaving all the fighting (especially in dangerous situations) to Saturn but the warrior was more suited to combat...all of this just made her head hurt, and the thought of not having Saturn by her side in battle made her heart hurt.

Saturn materialized beside her, "That was very good, but let's try it one more time. And this time, attack as you would if you were intending to actually kill your opponent." Hotaru nodded, of course she couldn't hide anything from Saturn. Throughout the warrior's lessons, all she had learned were ways to annihilate and devastate the enemy but the more she completed the actions for each individual attack, the more she realized how each attack could be turned around and used only to injure the opponent instead; injuries though they be, they wouldn't be the type to be easily recovered from and would hopefully leave any opponent regretting their decision to face her on the battlefield.

But still, she couldn't let Saturn down...

* * *

Usagi stretched, wiping an arm across her forehead after the fore-mentioned action. She'd been cleaning the apartment all day, or at least it felt that way. If the meal she'd tried to cook hadn't decided to explode on her, then maybe she wouldn't have had such a tough job. It was kind of a silly thought and so she laughed a little before plopping down onto a sofa cushion, untying the bandana that had held loose strands of her hair back and out of her face.

It hadn't been too long since she'd moved in with Mamoru into what was now their apartment. She'd finished up high school 2 years ago and had since played the part of loving house wife while working a part-time job on the side, just to help out if money ever happened to get tight. 2 years now...thinking about it, it felt much longer...2 years since the senshi had all been together again. It was hard to believe after how inseparable they seemed, but that was life, as her mother explained.

Ami was off on school business now, an exclusive learning program that took her all the way over to Germany. Usagi had tried to laugh it off, saying she didn't even know where that place was on a map...but on the inside it was hard to think about Ami leaving the group. She was the first to leave them, and it had been a tearful goodbye. She promised to write letters to each and every one of them as soon as she got the chance, but Usagi finally decided to give up hope on seeing her portion of those letters. She even checked with the postman to see if all of their mail was being delivered properly...it was.

Minako followed next when she received a call-back to an audition; it wasn't long after that the director informed his producer that they were working with the actual Sailor V. She'd been promised a movie deal for Sailor V, and then an on-going t.v. series, and then finally a manga series...Mina was going to become famous again, just like she'd always wanted. Minako hadn't left Japan for this, thankfully, and so promised to visit on the weekends or whenever she wasn't busy. She never did.

Makoto got her turn next when the building she'd had her eye on finally went up for sale; she quickly grabbed all the money she'd been saving up in urns and tins and quickly bought the place up, rapidly turning it into the bakery and flower shop she'd always wanted. The building had been perfect, split into two large rooms with a 2nd floor room that could be used for anything. It was a little out of the way of their apartment, but it got good business and Makoto urged them to come down anytime they liked. Usagi thought about calling before going, just so Mako wouldn't be flustered by their arrival if she happened to be busy. The times Usagi called, she only received a busy signal, and the few times she'd talked Mamoru into driving her out there, the store was always closed due to timing, personal business, or deliveries and catering...Mako was way too busy to entertain guests.

And then, Rei...her father had appeared out of the blue one day when she and Rei were laying around the temple like the good old days. Usagi felt she shouldn't get between them as they talked, but knew she had to stay and support her friend. Ultimately, Hino needed another worker as soon as possible and although he knew Rei hated him, he was desperate and came to beg. Really, he desperately wanted to apologized and beg for Rei's forgiveness. Of course, Rei agreed on her own terms; more holidays and easier shifts so that workers could be with their families in time of need (that's why they all left you, Rei chided once). Usagi had even seen her off to her first day of work, looking like a real career woman in her suit and heels. Grandpa and Yuuichirou had stayed back at the temple, keeping pretty much to themselves, Usagi noted. Rei made it a point to come and visit because if she hadn't found herself able, then she claimed she would quit her job. However, Usagi never got that visit from the Martian senshi...apparently, Rei and her father were currently busy trying to patch things up and making amends for all the lost time between. Usagi couldn't hold that against her.

...In fact, she couldn't hold anything against of them. All 4 of them had worked hard to make their dreams come true and they deserved to live them out to the fullest, even if that meant she wasn't included in those dreams for a little while longer. When Crystal Tokyo came, they could all be together again and go back to those days. That reminded her...what of Chibi-Usa? The pink-haired girl's visits had almost ceased completely...well, the serious visits at least. The most recent had been about 6 months ago when the girl appeared, claiming that she had left something important in this time.

Usagi had tried to get her to stay a little longer, saying, "So, um, Chibi-Usa how have things been going lately? Mamo-chan will be home soon, and then we can all sit down and talk."

"Sorry Usagi, I'm a big rush!" Chibi-Usa explained, the eleven-year-old tearing across the room to find whatever it was in question. "Bye-bye Usagi! See you soon!" she cheered with a bright, wide smile as she held the Chronos Key within her hand; the special item Pluto had granted her some time ago to allow her to travel back and forth freely between the past and the future.

"Wait Chibi-Usa!" But the girl was a gone in a flash of pink light that illuminated the blond's outstretched hand, "Yeah...see you soon..." she repeated sadly.

Usagi turned to look out the window...and what of the Outer Senshi? From what she'd seen on t.v., Haruka and Michiru had gone on tour in America and would be gone for quite awhile. That left Setsuna and Hotaru alone at the Outer's Mansion. But the two of them were so quiet anyways, even if they had kept in contact she wouldn't have readily known what they were up to. If she had her hunch right then Setsuna was still conducting experiments of some kind and Hotaru was simply going to school like any other normal girl, still in training to become a nurse.

"I should call everyone." Usagi stated firmly, climbing to her feet. She calmly walked from the living room, past the black wall phone, and headed straight to her and Mamoru's bedroom. She wouldn't use a telephone this time, something much more meaningful. She looked around under the bed, and from within she pulled out a clear container. It was a box she had been using to keep some of her old senshi stuff in...she hated having to put them away like this, not when they meant so much and had helped her out so much but...there were no more enemies to fight. All they would do is clog up space in their apartment. Inside it, she saw her pink Disguise Pen, something she hadn't had much use for it after they'd put the Dark Kingdom under; admittedly, after that, their enemies (as far as the daimons and lemures) hadn't even tried to disguising themselves like humans anymore.

Picking it out from the box, she held her communicator. Hers, like the the other Inner Senshi, was a special model, an over-sized watch contraption that held a resemblance to her compact. The Outer Senshi in contrast had smaller ones that more closely resembled wrist-watches.

It hadn't been used in awhile, and it made her even sadder to find that none of the other Senshi had even tried to contact her with it. If they had, one of the 8 tiny lights surrounding the edge would have been glowing and/or blinking. As it was Lunarian technology, it didn't run on batteries or anything like that, simply pure energy as given off by her. But who should she call first? Usagi only wished she knew how to make a group call with this thing. Either way, maybe she should wait until Mamoru got home to help her sort her thoughts out. That way, maybe they could plan a party or just some kind of get-together too! It was the perfect plan.

* * *

Kizami fingered the Taioron Crystal, rolling it in-between pale, gangly fingers despite its awkward shape and size. Despite his sour mood, he wore a bright grin on his face, eyes closed to complete the effect of his creepy vibe. Again, his lovely bride had thrown away his wedding present to her, this time throwing it into a toilet and flushing it. What on Earth could he do to make her accept it? Call him old-fashioned, but he preferred to court his women with gifts, especially the Lady Saturn; anything less would be disrespectful...and disgraceful to the royal family. He laughed at this, when you put that in perspective...considering what had happened...

Why was he in such a good mood? There was still so much to be done but the time to put his plan into action was drawing ever closer. Just a few more days and then everything should be in place. He honestly could do without the human girl's soul that shared the body with his Lady Saturn but he could deal with her rather easily...it was just getting her to wear his little gift, that was the only problem. If he could do that, then sealing that human away once and for awhile would be no problem. Hell, he might even break the crystal just for fun once her soul was inside it. Even better, he could use the little girl's soul for leverage just in case his bride had second thoughts about their wedding. Perfect plan. Oh, and taking over Earth and the realm of humans didn't seem too bad either.

…Damn that human wretch, it had to be the human girl who was throwing away his gift. Now it all made sense! With this he sat up, slamming his fists into the arms of the chair, the Taioron Crystal locked within one. On second though, he'd smash the crystal...he'd smash it into a thousand pieces, no, a million! That way, her soul could never be put back together.

* * *

This was it...the day of the finals of the Dark Tournament. She'd pretended to be asleep despite Botan's persistent protests that she wake up lest they be late. Finally, the girls decided to leave her and go on, deciding that she must have been tired from her own training exertions.

It was unreal how much the stakes had changed in that short of amount of time. As everyone came to discover, the Masked Fighter had really been Genkai, disguising herself by using her energy to look younger. Hotaru learned that the woman was a very powerful psychic master who had helped Yusuke train and master his spirit techniques. Toguro, the man that had forced their hands in this tournament, had been the one to kill her. Although she was an outsider to this story, she felt awful at the transpiring of the events. Also, she felt ill whenever she thought about it...why did people have to die like that? It wasn't fair.

Ironic, a woman who embodied death and yet questioned its existence.

And that wasn't the only thing that had changed. Koenma had shown up to watch the fight up close rather than slacking off back in Reikai. And then, another new-comer appeared; her name was Yukina. They were about the same height, Yukina maybe just a little taller than her with light blue hair and familiar red eyes. After meeting her, Hotaru learned that she was on a journey to find her missing brother whom she hadn't seen for a very long time. Their meeting couldn't have just been coincidence...it had to be fate. Yukina explained that she would know him in an instant as long as he still carried his _hiruseki_ stone. After that, she and Yukina talked for hours back in the hotel room about various things, especially concerning the stones, her dreams, and the young boy in question. Yukina even seemed hopeful that the boy in Hotaru's dreams may have been her brother, but obviously there was no proof.

Of course, it wasn't until after she'd stared at the color of Yukina's eyes for a good long while did she make the connection. She'd seen that hue of red somewhere before, and not unlike her own strange pigment of purple, that hue of red wasn't too common...it was like...a ruby-red color, reminiscent of fire. And that's when it hit her...but should she tell her? All the others seemed not to notice, but...did they know? Were they keeping it a secret from some reason? But why? Why did Hiei feel the need to keep Yukina at a distance? Still, she didn't want to ask him for fear of upsetting him. And now that she thought about it more, she could pick out similar features as far as facial features...were they twins maybe? But that didn't make sense, really...Hiei was a fire demon and Yukina said she was a koorime. True, it wasn't completely out of the question but...Yukina said the koorime were only women and lived excluded from men...did that mean...? What did that mean?

Hotaru sighed and rolled over. Today, the odds would be evened as boys went on to fight against Toguro and his team mates. She'd only briefly caught a glimpse of one of them, but definitely never caught a name; he was tall, dark-haired, and wore a strange mask. What were his powers? Who would fight him? She turned again so that she lay on her stomach, putting her head under the pillow as she drew the covers closer. Just how long had she been laying here anyways? The sun was-

She jumped up...where was the sun? It was still morning! Something wasn't right! The entire room was as dark as night! Dashing to the window, she pulled the curtains away and flung the glass open...a storm? No, that wasn't right. This was much mightier than any thunderstorm she'd ever seen. The sky was dark, the earth was rumbling, the sea was roaring...no...Hiei was summoning the dragon...It had to be him! The feeling she got after looking at that scene, it couldn't be anything else. She didn't know when she'd started running, she just had, flying down set of stairs after the next. She ran and ran, right towards the stadium.

Hotaru was so close...she knew she couldn't stop, but she had to be there. Why? She wasn't sure...her presence literally made no difference and she couldn't even make sure he was okay since he'd just refuse help but...but what if...what if something went wrong? What if the dragon turned on him? She'd learned a bit more about this technique from him during the few times he agreed to train with her. He wasn't much for actual conversation but the little he did speak was very precious to her. At one point even, Kurama seemed like he had wanted to tell her something but stopped himself, explaining that it wouldn't be fair to Hiei if he did.

Her foot hit the concrete floor on the outskirts of the stadium...then it exploded. She fell backward from the force, hitting her head as she did. Her vision blurry, her ears ringing, she couldn't get her body to move, even as she could just barely make out a giant piece of the stadium toppling downward towards her. 'Move...move...!' she commanded her limbs, but not a single muscle responded. Why was this happening? What exactly had happened? Was she really to be killed by the destruction caused by Hiei's dragon? She was so stupid...she should have just gone with Botan and the other girls this morning, then at least she would have been safe inside with them.

Nothing ever hit her though, someone was holding her in their arms bridal style. Hotaru was still drowsy, but felt relived when she realized that she was no longer in harm's way. But who was holding her? Her eyes were still out of focus from that bump to her head but...it was someone with dark hair. It couldn't be Hiei, he would still be inside fighting his match...unless she was dreaming.

"That was very close, my lovely _otome_."

Oh no, it was him...that man that gave her those awful feelings. Hotaru struggled, unsuccessfully trying to wriggle her way out of his arms. 'Please Saturn, help me!' Hotaru pleaded, allowing her own conscienceness to be pushed down and be replaced by the warrior who immediately clocked Kizami in the chin, causing him to release her. She bounced free from his long-armed grip and set a good distance between the two of them.

"Touch me again and you will lose those hands." Saturn warned, her cold tone and eyes showing no nonsense as she glared and turned to run towards the entrance to the stadium.

Kizami reeled back from the unexpected blow, holding his forearm to his chin as if to ease the pain. He growled, showing a glare of his own as he watched the girl run away...blood trickled down the corners of his mouth as it began to twist into a smile. Feisty, wasn't she? He'd bit his own tongue from that, almost clean through...ugh, he'd have to tend to this before he could approach her and the human bitch again.

* * *

Hotaru stared at the sleeping boy before her. It was amazing how fast things had happened. After launching the dragon, he'd actually absorbed it then used it's power to fight his opponent, Bui. After using so much energy, Hotaru was amazed that he lasted as long as he did, growing even more concerned when the boy passed out after his fight. The arena had been demolished by this point and so the remainder of the fight had been postponed, and now, here she sat with Hiei's head in her lap, Kurama opposite to her.

"Is he...is he going to be okay? I feel like we're just sitting here..." Hotaru asked, voice small and unsure. She wanted to heal him badly, just a little to give him enough energy to wake back up but even while unconscious she didn't want to upset him.

"You have a big heart." Kurama joked with a small smile, looking a little worse for wear himself, "Believe me though, you don't give him enough credit. After pulling off that attack, it's only natural he'd require rest and we both know how stubborn he can be." Hotaru nodded sadly, frowning in contrast to Kurama's light smile.

"At the very least, allow me to heal you, at least...at least enough to give you some strength back. I can't help but feel so useless like this..." Hotaru explained, her eyes rolling back down towards to the fire demon who continued to 'hibernate' as he'd called it.

"I appreciate the offer but I have healing powers of my own. You would do well to worry about yourself sometimes, too." the red-haired kitsune assured her, showing as the wounds he'd sustained during his battle with Karasu now seeming minor from what they had been. Hotaru nodded, feeling a smile stretch across her face and laughed even though she didn't know why.

"Sorry, you're probably right about that but...a good friend once told me that we should always care about our friends and those around us, and that, even though it's not always evident on the surface, you can always find goodness and kindness in a person's heart."

"The words of your queen, Serenity, I presume?"

Hotaru nodded, "If it weren't for her, Saturn and I might not be here right now. Protecting our queen is our noble mission, and because of what's she done for me, I'll never be able to do enough to return the favor except to take her advice and light the way for others to follow too. To Serenity, everyone matters and no one is treated like an outcast."

"...Your comrades tried to kill you once, yes? I imagine Saturn would have liked to take revenge for that...if she reacts anything like Hiei would."

"You mean his code, right? Saturn and I haven't talked about that day much since it happened, we just acknowledge the fact that it happened and that it's now over...thinking about how your family wants you dead is not something anyone should ever have to think about..."

Kurama sighed, closing his eyes and looking away, "Perhaps there are some things I should tell you...know that I can't tell you everything but enough. Since you are here now and likely to stay then you should know...it's strange, I'm having the oddest sense of deja vu here." Hotaru's mouth gaped in a surprise, her lips forming into a tiny circle of shock...deja vu...strange, this scenario did seem rather familiar...Kurama telling her something really important about Hiei. Of course, it all depended on what Kurama was actually going to say that would ultimately determine it, "You've spoken with Yukina, yes? Then you know that they are..."

"Twins, right?" Hotaru interrupted, her voice low. Even if Hiei was conscience enough to hear them, he couldn't actually do anything, still she felt the need to keep her voice down. Kurama nodded in response.

"Yes, they are twins even though it seems unlikely with Yukina being a koorime and Hiei being a fire demon. Despite this, Yukina has no idea and she cannot know. You must keep it a secret, no matter what. You've seen Hiei's Jagan Eye, he had it implanted to first find her and then watch over her safely from a distance but the price he paid for that was his silence. Hiei told me about your dreams with the _hiruseki_ stones so please understand any reaction he may have had towards you then."

Hotaru nodded again, her mouth dry. Now it made sense...Kurama told her all this to keep her from treading onto shaky ground and losing Hiei's trust. She couldn't thank Kurama enough, considering it was something she'd been pondering this morning herself. That's when a realization hit her...Kizami, where had he gone? Her eyes shot open as she tried to alert herself to any nearby presence...she felt nothing though, almost as if the tall stranger had disappeared into thin air.

"Kurama, please, you have to tell me the minute you sense a strange energy. These past few days I've run into a man who calls himself Kizami. His aura is anything but pleasant and just from that I can tell he's very powerful. I don't know who he is or what he wants but...I'm worried he might try and attack soon." Hotaru pleaded, a hand coming to her chest as if she were trying to keep her heart from exploding from her rib-cage.

Kurama narrowed his gaze, "Was this the enemy the one you mentioned before? The ones associated with that crystal?"

"Possibly..." Hotaru said breathlessly, she hadn't actually considered that option yet. What if he was a leftover from the Deathbusters? What if he was the second generation come to seek revenge on the senshi? Great, now she'd be dragging all of the guys into her problems when they had their own battles to focus on. Kurama stood up shakily, forcing her full attention to shift over to him,

"Alright then, let's move inside to the infirmary. There will be more of a crowd, making it less likely for him to attack. Did he seem to be looking for a fight?" the kitsune asked, helping her move Hiei onto his shoulders. Hotaru nodded again, feeling that was all she could do lest she start letting jumbled sentences flow from her mouth. She didn't know want this Kizami wanted, but at the very least he seemed to have business with her.

It wasn't that long of a walk, and unfortunately, there wasn't as big a crowd as the two conscience people would have liked. Still, it was technically a public place so anything that seemed out of the ordinary would be sure to get someone's attention. It was a small room lined almost completely with beds, the majority of them looking as if they'd never been used; this was a kill or be killed tournament obviously. Surprisingly, there was only one chair in the room which Hotaru insisted that Kurama take since he was still injured to a degree.

"I know you're concerned, but you can head back to the hotel if you want. The fights won't continue until the stadium is cleaned up some more." Kurama suggested to her, taking obvious note of her worried facial expression. Hotaru shook her head fiercely though, "I'm fine, I promise I'm not going to do anything rash. Besides, I've rested enough...I know it would probably be best to say this while everyone is present but since Genkai is...I'd like to take her place as the alternate fighter on the team. I know it's dangerous out there but I can hold my own against them." Why was she saying this? In anger over what had happened? It was Hiei who had done this to himself, not someone on the other team.

"I'm afraid that's a decision that will be left up to that committee."

"They'll never agree to it..." Hotaru whispered, having heard how unfair this supposed 'committee' was. It was funny how adamant she had been about not fighting and now here she was trying to force her way into the tournament...what a strange turn of events. She turned her gaze back over to the sleeping fire demon...how much longer would it be before he awoke? He needed to be awake for the final fight, and more importantly so that she would know he was alright.

"It's interesting to see you be so concerned about someone you barely know. You really do have a big heart...or maybe it's something else?" Kurama joked, trying to make light of their situation the only way he could think of. Hotaru blushed, tempted to accuse him of acting too much like Botan but...could she really try and prove him wrong?

Suddenly, the ground began to violently shake, Hotaru losing her balance only to caught by Kurama.

"An earthquake?" Kurama questioned, as the overhead lamps began to rattle violently and loudly, a bulb on the far end blowing in succession. She held onto his arm only for support, looking around as if the source of the quake might be in the room with them. "More of the stadium collapsing, you think?" she asked, the quake began to slow down...it couldn't have been an earthquake if it was over so soon.

"Something isn't right," he began as the two of them were able to stand upright, "stay with Hiei and I'll go take a look."

"Wait a minute, Kurama, let me go!" Hotaru protested as he started to walk away, "You're still injured, and if something is going on out there, I don't think-"

"It wouldn't do well for two injured people to stay by themselves either. If I'm not back soon, find a way to alert Yusuke and the others and let them know that something has happened."

"But Kurama! What if it's...them? You shouldn't have to fight my battles! I don't want anyone else getting hurt."

"I understand that, Hotaru, but you need to think logically as well. You are our comrade now so we will fight for you as well."

'Well, he's quite the catch, isn't he?' Saturn quipped as the red-haired teen disappeared from their sights, running out to make sure everything was okay. Hotaru plopped back down into the now vacant chair, Saturn materializing beside her as she did so. "What's the matter Saturn, have you gotten a crush, too?" Hotaru joked weakly, secretly sticking out her thumb so that the warrior could see.

"Very funny, Hotaru," Saturn returned, turning her gaze over the fire demon now too. "That earthquake just now...did you feel it too?"

Hotaru nodded numbly, "There was a familiar power flowing through quake...it's just like the Deathbusters, Saturn. I can't...I can't believe they're back...not now..." She wouldn't cry, she couldn't cry anymore, but she could still slump down in her chair, a feeling of utter defeat washing over her as she did. Not only did they have Toguro to worry about, but now the Deathbusters may have been here too...she couldn't the call senshi. Her communicator was back in the hotel room, not to mention, what would she even say? Sorry to pull you from your lives but surprise, we have a new enemy that we thought we destroyed.

"Out of all of us, you'd be the last person I'd peg as the one to lose hope. We know nothing right now, Hotaru, don't jump to conclusions. And what to make of that Kizami fellow?" Saturn pondered aloud, arms crossed over her chest.

"Saturn, do you know him? Is someone from your past, maybe?"

"He seems familiar but I don't recall ever acquainting myself with someone so...creepy." Saturn had paused, trying to think of just the right word before deciding on something she'd heard Hotaru say quite a few times. Hotaru smiled lightly at Saturn's word choice...it was odd to say but she loved to hear the warrior say modern day words, losing her princess-style voice for just a moment.

Then, again, another rumbling quake hit, much fiercer than the last. It happened upon them quickly leaving practically no reaction time to the situation. Hotaru fell forward out of the chair, halfway landing onto Hiei's torso as she did so; she wasn't surprised when this failed to wake him up. "Something is going on out there!" Hotaru exclaimed, that surging energy in the air too obvious to ignore now, "Kurama must be in trouble! Come on, wake up!" Hiei probably would have killed her had he known she was violently shaking him but she couldn't think of any other method and they needed to get moving now. On her own, Hiei was definitely too heavy for her to carry and still be able to defend them both, she'd have to think of another way to do this.

'Slap him.' Saturn suggested flatly from within, her materialized form having disappeared from the room, 'What are you waiting for Hotaru?"

'Ugh...' she groaned, 'he's going to be so angry...' she grimaced and drew back her hand, preparing to swing it downward with as much force as she could muster. Hotaru didn't get far, a hand quickly catching her wrist in a bone-crunching grip. It loosened as red eyes shot open and gazed back up at her, "Try that again and you **will** lose your hand."

"Hiei!" she exclaimed, glad to see that he was still his same old self, and even better that he was able to sit up despite the slight quaking of the ground that was still going on. "Are you able to walk? Something bad is going to happen...I can feel it...Kurama left a few minutes ago to check things out but he hasn't come back yet. We should-" But she found herself stopping short as he extended a hand toward her...was he...wanting her to help him up?

"What are you waiting for, woman? Heal me so we can go."

"Oh! R-Right..." Hotaru laughed, a blush rushing across her face as she went to grab his hand with her own. She dropped down to her knees beside the bed, completely clearing her mind as she summoned from within a warm power...her life energy. The two became enveloped in a light purple aura, the feeling of it warm and safe, as any injuries that he may have had became completely healed with no sign of any scarring. Hiei could even feel his strength returning, something that normally didn't happen when someone offered to heal him; normally, it was only his wounds that were healed. However, he'd have time to worry about that interesting note later.

The power in the air was practically suffocating...it was unknown to him, but it definitely posed a threat. It couldn't have been from any of Toguro's teammates, no, they definitely weren't strong enough to produce this kind of energy. And if it were someone on the island, he'd have noticed long before now...it was an outsider attacking then. A timid tugging at his uninjured left arm told him it was time to go. "Do you even know where we're going?"

Hotaru shook her head, "Kurama said if he wasn't back that we should go find Yusuke and the others."

"No need to," Both dark-haired teens snapped their heads over to the door, it was Kuwabara and Yusuke with Kurama draped over his shoulder, "It ain't like we can't feel that too." Kuwabara explained as the group filed into the room.

"Yeah, we found Kurama outside the stadium. Guess he overdid it, huh?" Yusuke questioned, putting the red-haired boy onto one of the beds.

"Or maybe...he was attacked. I think I know who's causing those earthquakes." Hotaru bit her lip as she turned her gaze away, a slight blush appearing when she realized that all eyes were now on here." The last few days I've run into a scary, tall man who called himself Kizami...he gives off a major creepy vibe and just being in his presence made me sick. I don't know who he is but he seems to have business with me...he might even be related to those enemies I told you about the other day, the ones who used the Crystal as their power source."

"Big deal, we'll knock this Kizami guy flat on his ass, take out Toguro, use our wish to bring Genkai back, then head home and party like there's tomorrow." Yusuke quipped at the younger girl with a confident smile. Hotaru wasn't sure she fully understood why they were willing to help her fight this guy (if it even was Kizami), but she was extremely happy and thanked them all.

"We're not getting anything done just standing around, come on already!" Kuwabara practically ordered, his white coat trailing out behind him as he turned to run. He'd made sure that Yukina and the others had stayed behind at the hotel out of harm's way, so he'd definitely make sure it stayed that way. With Yukina watching him, he could do anything! Including beating that other Toguro brother!

"Yeah, come on love-birds, you've got time to develop your characters later." Yusuke joked, unable to resist making the joke, turning and leaving before anything could be said. As she turned away with a blush, she could still hear Hiei growl under his breath...even though it was embarrassing, it still was kind of funny.

"Heal Kurama and let's go." he ordered, stuck with keeping his hands in his pant's pockets rather than his cloak as he'd lost during the fight.

"Y-Yes!" Hotaru stuttered out, nearly tripping over herself to do so. She didn't mind if he was basically ordering her around, she was just happy to be of help...and the fact that he needed her to do something. She called her healing power back from within, a purple glow now encasing her and the red-haired teen strewn out across the infirmary bed. It really wasn't safe to be using her healing power again so soon, not without ample time to recharge...this was gonna put a heavy toll on her own energy. As she could feel his strength return, she turned off the power as if it were as simple as turning off a light switch.

As she tried to stand up, she shuddered, a wave of weakness washing over her body.

"What's wrong now?" Hiei asked, turning his gaze over his shoulder; it was impossible to miss those panting and wincing sounds from her.

"It's just...I'm a little tired...my healing power...comes from my life energy so...I can't use it too much or I'll...I'll pass out." Hotaru leaned back and sat down on a bed, her arms wrapped around her as she shuddered and gasped for air again. Thankfully, it wasn't violent gasps, it just made her sounds as if she were hyperventilating. "I just need to rest for just a second." she admitted, feeling her own body recharge a little on its own. That was plus to having these powers, she remarked, extremely fast self-healing.

Although his stare appeared blank as usual, inside his mind was a different story. Inside, his thoughts were buzzing trying to connect all the pieces here...just when he thought he'd figured her out, something new would pop up and throw him off. Damn her, did she act secretive like that just to piss him off? Then again, maybe he should damn his own self for even bothering to take interest in her.

* * *

As the three of them ran, the corridor began to feel endless...maybe time had just decided to slow down. Still, it was an interesting sight to see as the two stronger demons inadvertently set their paces slower to match hers, making her feel embarrassed but happy at the same time. No, she had to focus on what was to come. They were able to trace energy as having come from the arena. No one had been there when they'd left earlier, but someone must have gotten in somehow...but what did they even want?

Hotaru could feel her eyes squinting as the trio happened upon the light blaring from the exit to the corridor, finally having made it to the end. The sunlight was bright as the arena had yet to be repaired from Hiei's attack, but once her eyes adjusted, Hotaru could feel her heart sink into her stomach.

"That him?"

"Mm-hm..." the pale girl now even paler in color murmured. It was him...it was Kizami. He was levitating over the remains of the arena deck, a smug look plastered across his face as he bobbed up and down. A few feet in front of them were Yusuke and Kuwabara, apparently having been able to stand against him to a degree, however, they were looking quite battered and Kizami failed to have a single scratch on his person.

"Yeah, now would probably be a good time to give us the cliff-notes on this guy." Yusuke grunted, pulling himself back onto his feet.

"Damn, we can't even get close to this guy...it's like he's got this barrier up or something." Kuwabara mentioned, mimicking Yusuke's action.

Hotaru could feel her mouth drop, eyes raising in surprise, horror, disgust, and plenty of other emotions, "...I don't know how to beat him..." she whispered. She was such a coward. She would...no, she had to call on Saturn to help her, there was just no way she could touch this guy.

"Ah, my _otome_! There you are, finally showing your pretty face to me! ...hm, just a moment...YOU. Filthy human wretch!" She honestly couldn't describe how quickly the man had gone through such a range of emotions...wait, was he talking about her? Dammit, he was...she shuddered once she realized that horrible piercing stare was aimed in her direction. She felt frozen, she couldn't move...no, somehow she'd managed to grab a hold of her henshin wand. Hotaru knew that familiar weight in her hand, no mistake about it.

"Ah, is that where the Lady Saturn is hiding?" Kizami grinned, holding out a gangly arm in her direction, palm stretched outward. Without warning, the stick flew from her hand and into his. "No please!" she cried, having sworn she'd held onto it as tight as she could have. She needed her henshin wand to allow Saturn full control, even if the warrior could take over, she'd still only have access to Hotaru's body and healing powers not her own powers and certainly not the Glaive.

She heard a grunt beside her, a black blur disappearing and re-appearing faster than lightning before her eyes. It flashed by Kizami, a spurt of blood resounding as the blur disappeared from view again.

"Damn you!" Kizami cried, holding his now bleeding hand...damn them, they were fast. He didn't even have any time to react! Still, he couldn't feel his Saturn inside that silly stick, so be it then, they could have it back.

"Hold onto this, woman, you're going to need it." Hiei demanded, hand out stretched in her direction...he'd gotten it back for her...she just had to make sure she didn't lose it again. 'Thank you...' she mouthed with a nod, slowly accepting it from his hand.

"I thought I smelled a rat...so what now, are demons and human actually working together these days? That's a first." Kizami laughed, finally regaining his composure as his bleeding hand continued to twitch. "I've no time for games with you lesser life forms. Bring the Lady Saturn to me now or things will get ugly for you." With a distancing finger, Kizami clearly pointed her out from the crowd of boys.

She swallowed harshly, a dry spot now stuck in her throat, the hair on her arms standing all the way up. She took a few steps forward, henshin stick grasped tightly within her hands,

"As you wish. If you truly desire to stare death in the face, then so be it..."

* * *

_**...annnnd cliffhanger. Simply because this chapter was getting to be too long! Next chapter, we have our first battle with Kizami, a few old friends show up to the party, and Kizami might even have to use his ace in the hole to destroy our beloved Hotaru.**_


	9. Kizami, Pt II

_**A/N: Just a few things I'd like to clear up. Kizami is written in a very specific way so that his dialogue is confusing...a lot of the time, what he's saying doesn't make any sense but that's just him being a whacko not because of some plot points I left out or anything. Sometimes, the other characters are written in the same way, namely Saturn. Also, Yakumo is the name of the villain from the YYH movie Poltergeist Report; I recommend watching it as a fan of the series but don't expect to hear the original voices; the movie takes place somewhere between Dark Tournament Arc and Chapter Black presumably so it's a little out of context in my story.**_

_**And okay, I can believe years later I'm still getting the same complaints about this pairing. How...on Earth...is this considered to be 'child molestation'? Anonymou said the H/H pairing was such for some reason...Hotaru's physical age can literally be anywhere depending on where your fic takes place. I normally start my fics after Stars season which would put at her a minimum of 14. Hotaru herself is obviously much older than that though; I honestly believe that Saturn has existed from the dawn of time just as Pluto because let's face it, death and rebirth...the world kinda needs it. On the other hand, Hiei is a demon, and not just any demon; he's half-fire half-ice. They age differently according to Togashi-san (or YYH's mangaka); they don't hit maturity until reaching the age of 100 which obviously Hiei hasn't done yet because Yukina hasn't either. And since the other guys are around the ages of 15-18 (by the series end, anyhow), I would assume Hiei would be around there as well. Technically, his age could fall anywhere between 16-99, truthfully. But yeah, there you go. **_

_** reven228: I know it sounds weird to say since we're past that point but we'll get to see Hotaru's reactions to a lot of Hiei moments later on. Sounds confusing but it will make sense once we get to that part. XD**_

_** aquafina_rain: Thanks you so much for you encouragement on characterization and everything else lol. And we'll just have to see about Saturn, whether she stays or goes. Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**_

_** Mew: Oh there will ass-kicking...it just may not be well written.**_

_** Kalladin1989: Thank you!**_

* * *

Hotaru glared up at Kizami, "If you truly desire to stare death in the face, then so be it..." she warned, holding her henshin wand up into the air. She could sense the boys looking at her in confusion, Kizami merely smiling at her with great pleasure as she took a deep breath.

"SATURN PLANET-"

"Stop!"

Hotaru cringed at the voice, narrowly avoiding some kind of energy blast that flew straight over her head. That hadn't been meant to hit her, it was sent as a warning. She looked back up at Kizami who continued to levitate with arm still outstretched from where he had fired the blast. "Not yet my dear, we're not quite ready to start the party yet."

"The hell is this freak talking about?" Kuwabara asked, looking back at everyone, "First he wants to fight, now he says no?"

"I don't know...what do you want? Who even are you?" Hotaru yelled back, her henshin wand still clutched with her hand in case this happened to be some kind of bluff.

"Patience, human bitch, patience. I don't feel the need to be wasting any more breath or time on any of you. In just a few more minutes, your world is going to become mine." he explained, his face contorted disgustingly with evil intent.

"Why you..." Hotaru growled lowly, her cheeks red from embarrassment by his name-calling. Haruka wouldn't have stood for that, no, the sandy-haired warrior would have charged straight at him with sword drawn. She grit her teeth...it didn't matter anymore what his intentions were, he was evil through and through, there was no reason for her to wait any longer.

"Wait," It was Kurama, arm outstretched in front of her to block her path, "Hotaru, I understand your anger but you must hold off for now. There's no telling what he's plotting. This very well could be a trap in of itself."

"Dammit, we don't have time for this," Yusuke roared, his biggest concern being fighting Toguro to avenge Genkai. "We can't just stand around and do nothing."

"You idiots couldn't even touch him, remember? I highly doubt he'd let his barrier down now." Hiei informed, still assessing the situation and what could possibly be done. And don't think that rising surge of power through her had slipped past him...she had been about to do something; call on that spirit inside of her most likely. She'd been preparing to unleash the full ferocity of that celestial power she kept so dearly hidden and locked away.

"Right then," Hotaru nodded, hands clasped over her chest as she murmured mostly herself. She'd been trying to pep-talk herself into doing this...she had to. "Please, you have to cover me."

"Hotaru, what are you-?"

"Please Kurama, you have to trust me on this. I need you guys to cover me while I transform...if I can call on Saturn's full power, then we can beat this guy no problem...no one will even have to get hurt." she smiled sweetly, fully believing in what she had said. A look of confusion went around the group of boys before they finally agreed...what other option did they have? They couldn't stand around and wait for this guy to make a move, and they definitely didn't want to give him time to collect enough energy for an attack.

"Aw, what's the matter? Are you giving up? Growing impatient? You don't have to worry, everything is almost in place." Kizami informed, noticing as the boys began to move into a semi-formation to block any attack that he might attempt. "What the-...?" Kizami questioned, cocking a dark brow.

"SATURN PLANET POWER...MAKE-UP!"

It was honestly all Hiei could do to keep from turning around to see...here it was, the power that he'd long to see ever see he'd discovered who she was. The power of a celestial...it was nearly suffocating to be so close to a purified power like this. A flash of purple light continued to emanate from behind them. Hotaru could feel Saturn's power beginning to overflow as she was wrapped in a warm, purple dome of energy.

"No! Not yet!" Kizami roared, firing more energy blasts their way; the boys easily dealing with them in their own way.

From inside the dome, the Silence Glaive appeared to cut through the purple-colored energy as Sailor Saturn exited fully transformed and ready for battle.

"Step aside, please," Saturn said in a low monotone, drastically different from the sweet, innocent tone of Hotaru. The boys quickly turned at the sound of the new voice, moving over to either side as she made her way closer to Kizami with Glaive at the ready.

"I am...Sailor Saturn. My guardian deity is a planet bathed in silence...I am the soldier who governs the power of death, destruction, and rebirth." With each pause, Saturn twirled her Glavie around, finally able to be in full control of the physical body once more. It would only take her a short while to get the feel of the weapon, this Glaive having been made especially for her around the dawn of time. Kizami...he would be severely punished for his insolence.

Kizami 'tsked' at her then let out a chuckle, "So very lovely...and what an enjoyable glare you give me, my dear. However, I do hate when party guests show up early. Still...I suppose we can get things started without a hitch!" he snapped his long fingers, two black shadows with burning red eyes and mouths appeared beside him.

"Kizami...who are you? Explain your intentions."

"Oh of course, now where are my manners?" the man said in a mocking tone, "You know me as Kizami but I'd much rather prefer you call me by my new title. You see, I am the ruler of Hell."

"The ruler of Hell? If you truly are the leader of those who dwell in Inferno then what are you doing in this realm?" Saturn questioned, her Glaive never ceasing in the slightest. He may have been a ruler as she was (if his story were true), but that didn't mean she trusted him anymore.

"Yeah asshole, nice try! We put that netherworld guy Yakumo down a long time ago!" Yusuke informed. It had been right after the fight with the Saint Beasts that Yakumo, the proclaimed King of Hell, had risen up to the human world to steal the power sphere and take over their world. After dealing with his henchmen, they'd put an end to him and saved Reikai and their world.

"You ignorant humans, do you not understand the concept of balance? Without a ruler, Hell would be imbalanced from the other worlds, and thanks to you idiots there was a power struggle of which I came out on top. You're looking at the new King of Hell! And as my first decree, I believe I'll take over the human world! You'll all bow down to me!"

Saturn's eye widened...that phrase...now...now it was coming back to her. "Silence! Answer me this! Are you or are you not...were you not once a celestial being?"

Kizami's mouth turned upward into a crooked grin, "Have you finally remembered me my lovely bride? I was so hoping you would, that way I don't have to beat it into you. But yes, I was once a celestial just as you are Princess Saturn."

"Then you are as I suspect...you were once a part of the Saturnian court but you tried to seize the power of the throne during my slumber and were ultimately executed from your crimes. Even though I was asleep, I could still hear your voice ringing in my ears..." Saturn growled, unable to shake the man's fanatic raving about being king and having her subjects bow to him from her mind. "Now, you will pay for your crimes again, you monster. I will send you back down into the flames of Inferno myself."

"Aaah, but you're too late my dear. My portal to Hell has already began to open!"

Saturn's eyes widened again as everyone followed Kizami's finger. The ground below him, right in the center of the arena, was beginning to crack and split, the blocks collapsing in on themselves. No...this was really happening...Hell was going to merge with the human world just as Setsuna had feared. With a cry, she lunged into the air with Glaive aimed at his head. It wasn't until she made contact with Kizami's barrier did she realize that Hiei had also attacked with her. The two were blown backwards from the force of the barrier rejecting their attacks.

"It will literally be a Hell on Earth...and the Lady Saturn will become my bride. Then, not only will I rule Hell and Earth, but I'll be able to take over the Saturnian throne...then the Lunarian throne of the Silver Millennium. And why stop there? I may as well take over the entire universe as well!"

"I don't think so!"

Saturn gasped...she knew that voice. She knew she shouldn't turn her back on the enemy but-!

"Sorry you had to wait for...!"

"A team of pretty warriors!"

"We are the Sailor Senshi!"

"Soldiers of love and justice!"

"And in the name of the moon...we shall punish you!"

Saturn gasped at the sight, then her face softened into a smile, "Inner Senshi..." she whispered as the 5 girls jumped down from the various seats where they'd been posing in the stands. Paying little attention to the boys, they rushed straight to Saturn.

"Are you alright, Saturn?"

"You shouldn't have tried to take this guy on by yourself!"

"You definitely should have called us first!"

Saturn quickly tried to answer their questions, half-hinting that they should pay more attention to Kizami behind her in case he decided to launch another attack.

"And don't forget us!"

All heads looked around the stadium for the sound of the voices this time. Saturn knew those voices quite well too...Hotaru would definitely be glad to see them as well. Kizami on the other hand let out a growl,

"Who invited all these bitches to my party?!"

"Sailor Uranus, appearing gracefully! We're to crash your party, bub! "

"Sailor Neptune, appearing beautifully! The real party doesn't start until the Outer Senshi arrive!"

With either introduction, the duo jumped from their position on the stadium seats and down into the 's strange, where was Pluto in all this? Saturn began to look around for her, failing to see the grass-haired Senshi anywhere...she would have introduced herself along with Uranus and Neptune. "Where's Pluto?" she asked concerned once the entire group of senshi had gathered around her.

"Actually, Pluto's the one who told us you were in trouble!" Moon informed her with a giggle, "She brought us all back together and we did a quick Sailor Teleport to find you!"

"Yeah, this guy's throwing out some major bad vibes here. We've gotta take out him and quick!" Mars affirmed as the entire group nodded their heads. Saturn could tell they'd heard his full story, feeling no need to explain to any of them about their situation.

"He fully intends to do this, we need to get the civilians off the island and now!"

"Don't worry Saturn, we already took care of that...even though this island seems to be filled with nothing but demons!" Venus explained, still not sure why Hotaru and Saturn had come here in the first place...that Pluto failed to tell them. "We warned everybody to get off the island as soon as possible so hopefully they took our advice."

"Listen, these are my friends, they've come to help us, okay? Please, we need your help as well." Saturn turned back to the boys who'd all remained silent until now, merely wanting to observe before taking action. They all nodded their heads at her to show they were ready. After all, so many celestials in once place...Hiei actually found this quite interesting.

It was a full on group assault then, Kizami just barely able to defend himself against his 12 attackers. He continued to conjure up shadow after shadow in order to defend himself...it was taxing on his energy reserves but if he didn't then he feared being defeated by these low-class wretches. Since when were humans, demons, AND celestials willing to work together? The last time he'd been on Earth they were all trying to kill each other! Still, the hole was growing larger and larger...once it was big enough, they'd break through that silly barrier and spill out over the Earth.

'Saturn...' The warrior stopped herself in mid-charge, lowering her weapon as she did...it was Pluto!

'Yes, Pluto, what is it?' Saturn questioned eagerly, wondering if the woman had any news or any advice to help them through this battle.

'Saturn, that island is growing more unsafe by the minute. You must evacuate all the humans left on the island as soon as possible! If the humans are subjected to the fumes pouring out of that hole for too long, their souls may very well be dragged under and lost to Hell forever!'

'Oh no...what about...?' Saturn looked over to the two demons who continued to fight on.

'They should be fine for awhile longer, but your friends Yusuke and Kuwabara won't be able to hold out much longer.'

Saturn resisted the urge to reply back and inform the senshi that they were Hotaru's friends, not hers. Still, she assured Pluto she would do as such. She began to move, dodging and flipping over shadows and attacks, and made her way over to where Yusuke stood his ground.

"Yusuke, listen to me! The portal to Hell is grower bigger by the minute. If you and Kuwabara stay here any longer then your souls will become forfeit to it! You must find Kayko and the others and get them off this island immediately!"

"What the hell? Are you serious? Look lady, I'm not going anywhere until I beat Toguro! He's gotta pay, dammit!"

"If you truly desire that then you will take my advice. We should be able to defeat Kizami on our own...at least save Kayko, Shizuru, Botan, and Yukina for Hotaru's sake then. She doesn't have many friends and I'd hate to see them die because of stupidity."

With a growl, he punched the ground, "Dammit!" he roared, "Come on Kuwabara! We've got to save Kayko and the others!"

Saturn watched as the two boys sped away...with any luck they would encounter the Toguro brothers and be able to have a fair fight somewhere else. Although his brother didn't believe in such, the younger Toguro had refused to fight Yusuke until he was strong enough...there was no way he'd run away from their fight, not after all that. Funny, she could almost narrate this...

"Watch your back!" She was only able to turn around after Hiei had deflected a blast with his sword, "Fool, if the detective and that idiot were so incompetent then they would have been dead long before now."

"Why you!" Kizami growled, throwing up a long-fingered palm in the direction of the Inner Senshi, an airwave of power being sent their way and knocking the warriors back.

"Oh no you don't!" Uranus exalted, jumping into the air with Space Sword, its crimson blade still shimmering despite the lack of sunlight. The sandy-haired warrior slashed with all of her might in an attempt to weaken the barrier, at least, since they had yet to put a scratch on it. However, her blade hit nothing as Kizami dissolved before her eyes, quickly reappearing upside down below her, strongly gripping one her ankles in his hand. He spun her through the air before launching the warrior down to the ground and into her teal-haired partner.

"I never much liked you other bitches," Kizami sneered, "If it had been up to me then Lady Saturn would have been the only ruler..." The insane king continued to prattle on, effectively causing the Saturnian senshi's stomach to knot up in disgust.

"This won't be as easy as I had thought..." Saturn murmured, knowing that she should help her comrades but she drastically needed to rest and recharge her energy for a moment.

"You said he was a celestial...how do you kill a near immortal being?" Red eyes were on her then, despite their grim situation, there was no less inner fire to them. Saturn stared back at Hiei a moment before answering.

"Even though Kizami was nothing more than a commoner amongst my people, although powerless at the time, he was still a Saturnian. After being executed and sentenced to an eternity wandering in hell...he must have acquired his powers down there somehow. Only those with royal blood were permitted to have powers, and this made him insanely jealous."

"So that barrier...it's not your technique?"

"I bet he'd like to claim so. It's nothing more than a cheap imitation, something he probably conjured up from watching myself or Hotaru perform the task." Saturn gasped, remembering, "If he was present on the island the entire time...or maybe, watching us from the time this all began, he must have seen it on the boat ride when Hotaru was attacked by those demons."

"That doesn't help our situation any, woman. His barrier can be brought down. I just need to find the best method."

Saturn closed her eyes, her head slightly nodding downwards, "Yes, your dragon would be sufficient enough to bring down the barrier," she explained almost as if reading his mind, "but correct me if I'm wrong, it would be impossible for you to use that technique again so soon. And not to mention, there's no telling what else might get caught up in the blast. Kurama is too weak to turn back into Yoko, and none of our powers as senshi seem to be having any effect."

Hiei grunted with a smirk, "So you're saying it's hopeless then?"

"Not exactly..." Saturn trailed off, a smirk of her own gracing her face, "We just need the right kind of distraction." She smirked, a plan already formulated as if she'd experienced the situation before.

Just as Saturn had hoped, Kizami had been watching her and Hiei's interaction the entire time. Was it perhaps an understatement to say that Kizami was the jealous type? The poor ruler looked red in the face, practically ready to explode with anger. The Lady Saturn...his Saturn...cohorting with a demon? No, she wasn't allowed! Not with such riff-raff! She should only speak with him, only smile for him! Kizami couldn't control his pupils from beading and shifting rapidly back and forth inside of his skull as his mind ran wild with ideas about the two of them...no, how could this be? She belonged to him, dammit, not some lowly demon! He was the Ruler of Hell now...how would his Goddess of Death not be pleased with him? She should be running to him at this very moment...ugh, why were they standing so close to each other?! It made him angrier and angrier just to see the sight...

...fine, if that's how she wanted to behave. Kizami straightened his posture, still levitating over the now much-wider portal beneath his feet, his face softening back into a straight line.

The Inner and two Outer Senshi looked on in worry from where they lay on the ground. He was seriously powerful...but they had to keep him from destroying the world! And they couldn't, wouldn't, let Saturn fall into his evil hands either.

None of them could feel the strength to move then...it felt as though the pressure of the air had suddenly increased; as if someone had increased gravity on their planet 10 times from what it normally was. Kizami was doing something...but what? Neither senshi nor demon could move a muscle no matter how hard they try, even going so far as to be forced to their knees.

'This is...extremely unexpected...' Saturn grimaced, again acting as if all of this had happened before; kind of like those silly movies Hotaru watched...there was no point in watching again if you already knew the outcome. But this outcome...she couldn't have for-seen this one.

"I told you...that you would all bow before me." Kizami lifted his head as he spoke, the once familiar-looking purple eyes now reddened with crimson anger and power. "You...you will see the error of your ways, Lady Saturn. Those who consort with demons will suffer in my Hell throughout all of eternity. Now...I'LL DRAG YOU BOTH DOWN INTO HELL WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The ground cracked and splintered, an off-shoot from the giant hole speeding their way like a torpedo. The pressure in the air made it too difficult to move still, and the ground crumbled away beneath Saturn and Hiei's feet. Without the use of their limbs, the two were pretty helpless to it and fell under.

"Saturn!"

"Oh no!"

The cries of the senshi rang out as Kizami calmly back-flipped and dove down into portal, obviously heading to where he'd sent the other two. As soon as he vanished, the warriors quickly rose to their feet, the pressure that had once hung in the air now dissipated.

"Hotaru-chan!" Moon screamed as she tried to run closer to the portal, only to be held back by Uranus and Neptune.

"Sailor Moon, no! If you get too close, you might fall in too!" Uranus warned her as the other blond began to collapse in their arms, emotions about to overflow. "Saturn will take care of Hotaru, believe me, I know she will. We have to stay here and do what we can. We'll need to find Pluto and see what can be done about stopping the portal from getting any bigger."

Uranus, now taking charge as she was apt to do sometimes, turned her attention to Kurama who stood only a few feet from their group, "Hey pretty boy, I take it your one of Hotaru's new friends, right?"

"Yes, we are. And I'm afraid I don't know this Pluto you speak of but I am aware of one person who should be able to do something about this; he's the jr. ruler of Reikai."

Uranus nodded, "Right then. If I know Pluto, she hopefully already knows this guy."

"Haruka...what about Hotaru and the other boy? Shouldn't one of us go down there as well...just to back them up? We had trouble fighting him with 12 people, what can they honestly do with just two?" Neptune asked, concerned as the other senshi nodded their heads and spoke up with sounds of agreement.

"No...Haruka is right..." Moon whispered, "We can't...we can't put anyone else in danger. Saturn is capable of handling things on her own...she'll be alright." The odango-haired princess smiled, hoping to reassure her comrades by the action. Had it not been for their grim situation, Kurama might have smiled himself due to the irony...it was obvious to see who had influenced Hotaru's beliefs when it came to action.

Suddenly, the ground began to rupture again, a greenish fog billowing out from the portal.

"Everyone, cover your mouth! Don't breathe that gas in, it's miasma!" Kurama warned, each senshi rapidly following his advice. Without a word, the unlikely group of warriors began to make their way out of the arena, and began heading for the docks. It was the farthest location from the arena and most likely the safest place to be at this point. Since there was only one extra person, teleporting shouldn't be too hard of a task, after all, they couldn't just leave the poor red-headed boy to fend for himself.

* * *

Hotaru stirred...a pounding in her ears...like a drum...it was a steady rhythm, familiar...it was warm...not warm-sounding, warm-feeling...no, it was more intense than that! It was hot, it was burning hot!

The purple-eyed girl awoke with a stir, pulling herself up onto her hands as she did so. Where...where was she? This place...it was hard to breathe and smelt of sulfur, smoke, ash, and flames. And if she wasn't mistaken, she could also make out the stench of burning flesh...luckily it wasn't her own. Were they...were they actually in Hell? She'd always heard about this realm from various people, even Saturn herself once when they had briefly discussed the boundaries between worlds. It didn't look how she imagined it would have, and nothing could have prepared her for that smell...the area they were in was slightly dark, a purple-hue taking over the room. The floor below didn't feel hardened or ashy, but instead sandy...wet, mushy sand like a beach would have at nighttime.

Sensing something else below her, she glanced down and saw Hiei, still unconscious from their fall. Had he...had he grabbed a hold of her on the way down and turned them so that he would take the force of the landing? She hurriedly scrambled off of him, her face no longer flushed from the intensity of the heat.

It was then she realized that she had de-henshined...where was her henshin wand? Saturn must have been knocked unconscious as well, causing her to de-henshin automatically. She had to find her wand though...she couldn't leave it down here! And she definitely didn't want to be attacked without it on hand. What an awful turn of events...Hiei, she pleaded mentally, please wake up...I don't want to be alone in a place like this...

* * *

_**A/N: And so it begins...next chapter, we confront Kizami in his throne room for (hopefully) the last time!**_


	10. Aftermath

For such a hot place, 'Hell' was a very dark place...for some reason no light appeared to shine in this area. That made looking for her henshin wand all the more difficult then...she had pleaded for Hiei to wake up, knowing good and well that he could hear her mentally if he was even the tiniest bit conscience...she had feared making noise to attract Kizami or anything else that happened to be lurking around in this pit.

Then again, perhaps Kizami had purposefully dropped them in this place. There were no doors, no identifiable walls except for a few craggy, cliff-like structures off in the distance. If you didn't pay attention to where you were going then you would surely bump into one.

'Saturn...' she tried again, hoping for some kind of response. Even just a simple stirring of the warrior's powers would have filled her with some relief. Hotaru frowned, wanting to heave out a heavy sigh but thought better of it.

"Where are we?" She turned quickly at the sound of a voice, happy to see the fire demon awake and seemingly unharmed.

Forgetting herself, she lurched forward and hugged him, "I'm so glad you're okay!" she exclaimed, quickly remembering herself and pulling off of him, turning her head around with a blush. "I-...um, well, I'm not sure where we are. Saturn is still unconscious. I think I lost my henshin wand too." Curse it all...she was babbling in embarrassment. She didn't do this often, much rather the type to sit quietly when embarrassed but this was a little different...

"Feh, never mind, it doesn't matter right now." Hiei interjected, turning his head away from her in a similar fashion, "Without that stick, you're fairly weak in battle and we don't need to get caught off-guard." Hotaru frowned at his comment...she'd become a lot stronger from Saturn's training, or at least she thought she had. Maybe he was just...he interrupted her thoughts with a question of the wand's appearance, claiming that he could locate it quicker with his Jagan than the both of them fumbling around blind in the dark. She described it as best as she could, never realizing how much detail the stick actually had to it.

"It's in another space, most likely a room up ahead." He didn't motion for her to follow, leaving the girl to jump when she realized his intentions and aptly follow behind him. It was a quiet walk...what could be said in such a situation as this? Any two normal people would have been freaking out, panicking and losing their minds, but they were different. Still, Hotaru wished that...there was something to speak about. It was pointless trying remain silent down here, Kizami cast them down here so he obviously knew their every move, what they said, and anything they else they did. In fact, he was the one who more than likely had grabbed her henshin wand. For him to do so, they must have been out for a good bit...but why not kill them then? It would have made more sense. Maybe he planned for them to die down here, die at the hands of whatever befell them...maybe he even expected them to turn on each other...?

She felt herself suddenly being pushed and thrown, being cast out of harm's way most likely. Strange, she couldn't hear Hiei's voice. Hotaru quickly got to her feet and spun around...where was he? What had happened? The way she had come from...it was nothing but rock wall. Eyes widening, she ran over to it and pounded her fists against the craggy wall as hard as she could; tiny, sharp rocks embedding their tips into her hands as she do so, a small spurt of blood to accompany each one. She called for him, yelled his name...had they just been separated? Or...had this wall somehow fallen on him? Dammit, why had she been so lost in her thoughts? Hotaru sunk to her knees...she hated this...she truly hated this...she just wanted to go home. Finally feeling the pain in her hands, she winced and glanced down...they were covered in tiny trails of blood.

"Hiei..." she whispered, "I don't want to be alone here..."

Looking up, she pulled herself to her feet. There was only one way to go, the direction in which she had pointed them in. She swallowed...was it up to her to kill Kizami? Alone? It was a scary thought but...no, she couldn't stand by while everyone else fought, not anymore.

She walked a few timid steps into the endless darkness, hoping that maybe there would be some kind of doorway somewhere. It was more of a hopeless thought but it made her feel a tiny bit better.

Suddenly, there was a flash of white light, so bright that she brought up her arms to shield her eyes. Lowering them, she found herself in...what appeared to be a beautifully furnished throne room. A throne room...if it belonged to him then it was nothing but gaudy. It coated with deep reds, a warm atmosphere hovering in the air...almost as if for comedic effect, a small orange flame burned in what appeared to be an ordinary fireplace. If this was a throne room for the ruler of Hell, then there was no telling what real purpose that fire could held.

"And so she finally arrives! You know, I was getting rather tired of waiting for you to get here!" Hotaru turned her head in anger, her short hair swishing as she did so. It was Kizami, unmistakeably. He had abruptly appeared seated in the throne that marked the centerpiece of the room. It was dark, candles flickering on the wall the only light granted to them.

"Give me back my henshin wand." she stated simply, bravely as she glared at him, "And tell me what you did to Hiei!"

"You know, it would have all been so easy. Steal the wand...extract the soul...put it in another body...but of course, that had to be complicated too. You see, human bitch, my lady Saturn's soul is VERY complex. Her soul is only compatible with certain bodies or maybe I should say 'body'. Every body I seemed to put her soul in...completely rejected it, some of them even clawed their eyeballs out. At first I thought it was the lady Saturn doing it, but then I realized that the body simply couldn't withstand the horrors of that kind of power nor the memories of what she's come to witness. It's simply too much for a regular human or even an artificial body to handle."

"You didn't answer my question! And you overstep your boundaries in this world...you can't...you can't make an artificial person!"

"And so I figured that the key must be with your body...what's so special about it, I wondered." Hotaru growled to herself, balling her fists in anger as he seemed to continuingly ignore her. He was going to pay for this dearly... "Then, it became simple. It's just your body. Actually, it's her body. You are, in fact, the unwelcome soul. When the lady Saturn's soul was sent to Earth to be reborn with the rest of the court, she wasn't sent by Serenity, oh no, Saturn was sent by someone else. And I wonder, can you guess who that person was?"

What...what on Earth was he saying? True, Saturn wasn't sent to Earth to be reborn originally as she stayed behind to destroy the remnants of the Silver Millennium but...

"I'll tell you who, it's that Time Guardian you happen to favor so much. It was she who pleaded for Saturn to be reborn at the Galaxy Cauldron, BUT due to the Time Guardian not having enough power to offer, a new body was not created for Saturn so instead she was forced to share a body...with you. When she was sent to Earth, she was supposed to take over the soul of an unborn child to become that child, but something went wrong and the two of you didn't combine, you remained as two separate entities! Unlike all the other senshi, Saturn was forced to become another person, Hotaru Tomoe, a weak, scared, little human bitch who refuses to fight back!"

She was charging at him, she didn't how it happened or what she even planned to do but her feet had just begun to move on their own. Of course, he teleported out of the way before any harm could come to him but he re-appeared just as quickly behind her, and grabbed a hold of her; one arm wrapped around her neck while another held her waist in a tight grip, both of her own arms trapped under his.

"And so, I need your soul to disappear. That way, I could put the lady Saturn's soul right back into it's rightful body, and then you'll disappear from all planes of existence because your shattered soul won't have a body to come back too!"

Hotaru tried to elbow him in the gut, but it barely phased him. "Wait!" she cried out, still trying to wriggle out of his grasp, "Just answer me one question...if you must do this, then answer me this...why? What's your reason in all of this?"

"Hmm...is that a last request? I suppose I can grant you that much, I believe it is a human custom after all." Kizami smirked then chuckled darkly, "Very well...look." He brought a hand up under her chin and harshly turned her head in the direction he sought. "Do you see that painting? That...is my greatest wish. Please tell me that you aren't so dense as to not know who they are..." he paused, almost as if he were waiting for a response but she found it hard to speak at the angle at which he held her. He sighed and continued, "That is a depiction of my most favorite story, The Rape of Persephone, as I believe you humans have come to call it."

"That's all it is, a story!" she responded, voice strained, "They weren't real people, Kizami, they were just made-up characters in a story that the elders told to scare children into behaving! That story was told to teach children not to speak with strangers, especially those from the kingdom of Earth. Think about it, Hades rose up from the _earth_...it was just a story to keep celestial children away from Earthlings. After awhile, even the Earthlings adopted the stories as myths! " She could hear him growl, the next thing she knew she was on the floor.

"You lying bitch! No, it's not make-believe! It's real! Where do you think the senshi's powers come from?"

Hotaru got to her knees and turned back to look at him, "The Sailor Senshi receive their powers from the planets, not a magical deity that's never been seen." She paused to climb to her feet, "Obviously, you wouldn't know that. You still think like a child...you were executed before that knowledge ever properly reached you."

"Why you...the only reason I'm not tearing your throat out is because I need that body."

"This is my body! It's no one else's!" Hotaru screamed back...she honestly didn't think she could scream like this, she felt so powerful and strong... "A long time ago, my body was stolen from me by an invader from outside the Solar System. Her name was Mistress 9. Even though she tried to steal my body, she failed...just as you will. Saturn and I have an understanding...we are the same person, we are the same body. And that's why..." Hotaru looked down at her out-stretched palm, then clenched it into a fist, "And that's why we always fight together!"

She gasped as a purple light appeared to glow from her clenched hand...it was warm, familiar...it was her henshin wand. It was materializing in her hand, coming back from who knows where.

"No! How did you-...How dare you!" Kizami yelled, lunging with an outstretched hand.

Hotaru nodded, giving a quick twirl as she turned on the back of her heel, her outstretched hand now held the Silence Glaive which easily countered Kizami's attack and pushed him back. She was no longer Hotaru...Sailor Saturn now stood in her place.

"You are a sick, demented soul who will be put to rest." Saturn stated stoicly, her weapon stuck outright as more than just a warning. "But first, you will return the swordsman to us."

Kizami gritted his teeth but a smile still tried to break through at her appearance, "As you wish..." he grumbled out, unsure if his lady had even heard him. It happened quickly but the fire demon re-appeared at her side of his own free will, his paths no longer blocked by obstacles. The two were silent as they stared the false king down. Kizami's smile disappeared for good then, taking a step backward...would this turn out to be his undoing? No, no...he'd kill off the demon boy and the human girl, then he and the lady Saturn could be together...just like in the story, only, she would never leave his side.

"You give Hotaru far too little credit." Saturn murmured, "She is by no means weak." Hiei kept silent. True, he hadn't been here, but without much else to do, he decided to at least locate her and listen in. No...she wasn't so weak anymore.

They were fighting then, a dance of blades and shadows across the unlikely battlefield.

Kizami summoned forth his signature shadows to his side, one meant for attacking while the other took up the role of defending him like a shield. The two noted he was no longer attempting to use his imitation of Saturn's Silent Wall but they didn't question him...perhaps he feared using up all of his energy performing the task; after all, he'd only needed time to open the portal.

The battle continued to stretch across the room as tables and other fixtures were knocked over. The attacker shadow lurched out with its red mouth, teeth sharp and ready to bite. It slithered through the walls and the floors, making it almost impossible to hit despite the two warrior's speed and strength. It wasn't until Saturn threw her Glaive like a javelin, casting it out to hit a predicted spot on the ground, did the attacker shadow cease its movement and vanish, dead. Without the power of the Jagan, this wouldn't have been possible.

Kizami threatened then to unleashed the very demons of Hell itself, the unfortunate, fallen angels who had been cast into hell and become demons.

But it wasn't so...the defender shadow had been pierced by a green-ish glowing blade, surrounded by otherworldly flames. And the blade hadn't stopped there, no, it continued on to strike the coward who had hid behind it. A swift but sure impalement...it was over. It had to be over...surely even he couldn't recover from that?

The defender vanished in a wisp of black smoke, bellowing a low roar of death.

Kizami stumbled backwards, trickles of blood settling at the corners of his mouth. The sword had been removed, leaving a sizable hole that gushed blood down from the front of his black shirt. He hit the ground, too stunned to move.

"Both of you! Quickly!" It was the sound of Pluto's voice calling out to them from a nearby portal. Their only way out...Saturn, however, was too pre-occupied with her prey...this creature would pay for his crimes.

Something grabbed her arm though and began to pull her away. Damn, why wasn't she fighting this? It was then, she realized, that she was no longer in charge of the body but Hotaru...she was allowing them to be pulled by the swordsman into the portal, leaving Kizami to 'mercifully' bleed to death.

* * *

_Some time later..._

Hotaru awoke in her own bed, eyes slowly folding open to take in all of her surroundings. It was day time, sunlight streamed in through the windows, the tree were rustling just out of the window's reach...and it was quiet.

She didn't quite have the strength to sit up yet, still confined to bed as she lay on her back with her two pale arms draped down by her sides over the tops of the bed covers. There were no immediate injuries that caught her attention, no missing limbs or anything of the sort, still she could feel bandages throughout her body. Again, she tried to sit up, managing to wiggle her way up to some kind of sitting posture.

She only had a vague remembrance of what had transpired. During the final match of the Dark Tournament, a man named Kizami seemingly appeared from nowhere and proclaimed himself the new ruler of Hell and that he wanted Saturn, specifically Saturn and not herself, as his bride. He was planning to go to any lengths necessary to do so, even open a portal to Hell and merge it with that of the living realm. She and the guys had put up a good fight against him, and it seemed once the entire senshi team appeared, victory was assured. However, Kizami began to take personal offense at the sight of Saturn and Hiei interacting, and dropped them both down into a portal into Hell. It was here that she awoke as herself, not Saturn, and she and Hiei began to traverse the place to find away out. They became separated momentarily, with her having special permission to enter Kizami's chambers. It was here he revealed his plan to become like the Hades in Greek Mythos who kidnapped his would-be bride Persephone and forced her to live with him in the Underworld; it was a dream he had long had since the time of the Silver Millennium when Saturn had been sentenced to eternal sleep and when he was first punished for his crime: breaking into the resting chambers of Saturn.

...wait, had he said that? Or had she just imagined it? Hotaru reached a hand up to clutch at the flesh between her eyebrows...her head was pounding all of a sudden. Maybe it was a memory of Saturn's? Saturn mentioned he was punished and executed for a crime he had committed against the royal family but she couldn't place where he might have said that...

Still, after Kizami had told his story, she allowed Saturn to take full control and watched from within. Hiei eventually joined the battle and officially took down Kizami with some kind of sword technique. Saturn had planned to finish him off but...something had happened and she was back in control of the body; the transformation having immediately canceled out. After that, things got extremely vague. Someone had grabbed a hold of her wrist and was strongly pulling her towards a newly appeared portal, one that poured Setsuna's voice from within. Although she wanted to resist, she couldn't...it seemed almost everything went silent after that despite people fluttering and running about to make sure they were okay. She must have passed out then because no memories came back to her...

Strange, she found it strange that everything was so quiet. Normally, a big group would have gathered around her bed, a least a group of the senshi. Just how long had she been asleep? She slowly began to crawl out from beneath the covers, finding herself clothed in a pair of baggy yellow pajamas; they were old-styled pajamas but meant for a woman, in fact, these were originally supposed to be Haruka's but due to a sizing mishap, they went to the tinier Hotaru.

She found her first steps to be a little wobbly, not from inactiviity just physical fatigue, and she hobbled over to her wooden rocking chair. For awhile, she'd used this chair to sew and knit in; a hobby that may have seemed odd for someone of her physical age, especially considering she did it without the accompaniment of music or television. On the chair, she kept a small blanket, just large enough to drape over one's shoulders. This piece was more her 'palette' as it was a deep purple; true, it didn't match but she didn't think anyone would hound her about it...for now. If Minako was downstairs...

Hotaru practically tip-toed over to the door, making sure that her balance was steady before opening it. Interestingly enough, and perhaps awkwardly, her gaze met with that of Hiei's who stood across the narrow hallway, leaning against a door with his arms crossed. After a moment of staring, Hotaru realized herself and turned her head, half-way hiding her face behind the door frame as a hand knowingly clutched at it for support and out of embarrassment. Why was he here? It seemed so simple to ask in her head but when she tried to get the words out, they wouldn't come. Instead, she merely murmured his name in quiet, surprise.

He didn't respond, just stood there, his body and gaze never moving.

She figured she may as well try talking again, it seemed like he waiting for her to say something more after all, "Umm...were you guarding the door?" It was the only thing she could think of to ask even though it sounded dumb...she had meant to ask why he was here not accuse him of something that might make him mad.

Hiei averted eyes and moved from his leaning position against the door, "Just thought you'd want some sleep." he said simply, tone still harsh despite the intended kindness of his action. Hotaru watched him leave, heading down the hall and back downstairs. So...he was "guarding" the door, making sure no one planned to come in and wake her up, and if she didn't know any better, to keep people from coming up to the 2nd floor period.

She smiled, turning her head even more towards the door frame, almost as if she was trying to hide her blush from invisible eyes...maybe she was.

* * *

"...I'm afraid the answer to that is 'no' considering that Kizami is still very much alive. I myself am actually quite surprised that Saturn didn't land a final blow."

It was Setsuna, she knew that voice anywhere. If she was explaining all that then that must mean the entire group of senshi as well as the boys were in their giant living room. It wouldn't be large enough to accommodate seating space for all of them so a few would be standing. As she neared the room, she began to slow her pace.

Why had Saturn paused? Did she not have a chance? Why...? They were definitely going to ask her and she just didn't have an answer.

'Saturn,' she called mentally, 'can we talk really quickly? I'll let you rest after that, I promise.' But there was no call...strange again, the warrior had good stamina and had barely used any of her power in either of the fights...perhaps something else had tired her out? She could hear Setsuna talking again.

"However, we must act quickly. No doubt he too will rest but only for a time. Once he has his energy back, we must be prepared for another portal to be opened somewhere. Most likely, he will do so within Hotaru's vicinity so...as much as I hate to say this, for her benefit," Setsuna tacked on, "we'll most definitely need to keep an eye on Hotaru. A constant watch won't be necessary as it will take time for a portal that large to be fully opened but we can never be too careful. I've enrolled as a substitute teacher in Hotaru's school, if and when she decides to go back if that is to be the case. Perhaps one of you could take care of walking Hotaru back home?"

There was a flurry of voices, some of them muffled from presumably being across the room. She heard a female voice offer to just let Hotaru stay with her, Usagi's loud and recognizable voice chorused that, saying that she and Mamoru had a spare bedroom in their apartment. A male's voice she took to be Yusuke mentioned something about Kayko being more than happy to walk home with her. After that it was nothing but a sea of indiscernible noise and so she backed away. Nothing awaited her in there but a headache. She don't think she could have made it even if Chibi-Usa had been right in there with her. What if Hiei was in there...? She found she couldn't really picture him being around so many people he didn't know.

"What are you doing? You're supposed to be in bed."

Hotaru whirled around, well, turned as fast as she possibly and safely could to find Hiei. He was pretty good at sneaking up on her, maybe in a way he liked doing that to her since she never bothered to try sensing energy all the time. She was almost tempted to answer his questiod with 'but I'm not sleepy', but thought better of her little joke between herself and Haruka.

"I'm fine..." It was really all she could manage, heat surging back up to her cheeks. He couldn't really be this concerned about her, he had to have overheard Setsuna's plan about someone keeping an eye on her at all times...right?

He grunted, "If you're fine then I'm leaving. I don't have time to babysit you."

She watched, not really taken aback by his nature any longer, it was just how he was. He was just a different type of loner...she quietly pushed people away, and he snapped at people to get away from him...more or less. Quickly her eyes shot open all the way,

"Wait, I want to come with you!" she called, hurriedly running behind him, still pajama-clad and bandage-covered.

* * *

_**Lame fight scene is lame but there is a method to my madness. I honestly wanted to write more to this chapter but couldn't really find a good bridging point without leaving off on a HUGE cliffhanger. Is Kizami out of the way for good? What's going on with Saturn? Next time, a certain someone's back story is finally revealed, but what will Hotaru do when she finds out? Just some things to look out for next chapter!**_


	11. The Truth

_**aquafina rain: Thank you, glad you're liking things still! And we'll see Saturn in action for a little while longer.**_

_**Mew Aqua Spirit: Nah, I still think it was pretty bad. XD Anyhow, thanks for reviewing!**_

_**Evangeline11: I had originally thought to end the fight there for a good and have them kill Kizami but then another plot bunny appeared and I liked that idea so much better so like I said, there is a method to my madness. And don't worry, this chapter will answer those questions.**_

_**CrescentMoon90: Yay, so glad to hear that! I remember back in the day when there were many fans of this pairing but sadly I think they've all moved on from And thank you so much! I'm really glad to hear that everyone is in character, especially Hiei since I'm always** **worried I'm gonna write something out of line with him. Also, thanks for understanding how busy real life can be but I do get opportunities every now and then.**_

_**Thanks so much to my reviewers, you guys are awesome!**_

* * *

Quickly throwing on her slippers, she followed after him, softly closing the door behind her. She didn't get far before he halted, causing her to follow suit a few paces behind him with the smile on her face slowly beginning to fade.

"You want come with me?" It was all he could ask really, the statement had really caught him off guard. Normally, no one tried to stop him when he decided to leave the group, much less follow after him and ask to come along. "Don't be ridiculous. Go back inside and sleep, you'll need your strength for the fight." Also, he needed some quiet time away from that racket currently going on in the living room of her house.

"But I'm okay...I've slept so much that I don't think I could possibly sleep another minute. Also, I really don't want to sit in with all that noise..." she trailed off, her pale hands coming up to clutch the blanket she held over her shoulders.

"..." Hiei paused for a minute, watching her closely, then turned back around, "I don't have time for this."

"Please!" she lurched forward to grab his arm, "Please...I don't want to be alone..."

Hiei rolled his eyes.

* * *

They hadn't gone far, opting to go only as far as the front lawn of the massive white mansion that belonged to the Outer Senshi. He'd refused to allow her to follow him any further than that, Hotaru agreeing readily. It was strange, despite that her family, the senshi, were back inside the house, the idea of sitting with them only made her feel that much more lonelier. And with Saturn not answering...she was actually at a loss for what to do next.

Still, she knew Hiei wasn't the talkative type and right now he too sought off a reprieve from the conversation inside, making small-talk out of the question. However, she found that she actually liked it like this. Just the two of them here quietly, he positioned with his back against a tree and she seated on a nearby bench made for lawn décor. It was funny how with him, she felt she didn't need anything else.

But there was something she needed to ask him, she realized as her mind began to wonder. Saturn wasn't talking to her, perhaps she was resting, but she had to know...why had she suddenly turned back? Saturn had suddenly lost control of the body and Hotaru's consciousness took over. It was very unlike the warrior to switch them back in the midst of battle, especially right before the final blow was struck. And, it hadn't been Hiei's fault...she'd already turned back into herself before he'd ever grabbed her wrist.

"There's something that I have to ask you, you were there...what happened during that battle?"

"What do you mean?" he responded simply, low, eyes still closed in a relaxed manner.

"I don't actually remember most of the fight even though I was awake for it...it's really odd to me. It's almost like...there are pieces missing. My memories don't match up together to make an entire battle with Kizami. I barely even remember being pulled through the portal that Pluto created..."

"..." Hiei paused and opened his eyes to look at her. She was serious, her eyes looking lost and confused. It was odd. During that battle he too had felt something was off...it had gone slowly, almost like time itself had slowed done. The battle hadn't seemed...real, to say the least. "...How should I know? The woman just stopped moving and dropped her weapon. Then when I looked over, you were there instead."

That didn't really help her out much. True, it had filled in some information, but there was still no explanation for her abrupt de-henshin. At least Kizami hadn't used some kind of weird spell or magic...or had he? Maybe neither of them had seen something like that? But...no...Hiei's eyes were too fast, he would have at least noticed something. However, if he said he didn't know, then maybe he hadn't felt anything.

"...I can't contact Saturn. I'm really scared right now...what if...what if something happened to her?" Hotaru whispered, head hanging downward as her dark hair made a curtain around her face, "I don't want to be alone."

"Feh, you don't know what true loneliness is." True, that hadn't really meant to be said aloud but it was the truth. He'd seen her so-called 'family', how many true friends she'd had. They'd done nothing the entire time except play around and joke with each other happily, even reminiscing about times past with Hotaru-included stories. It actually made him a little sick, to be honest. She could actually speak of loneliness with that many friends and family members all around, all the time? What a joke.

"Wh-what...?" Hotaru stammered, her head rising slowly but still not looking at him. Should she get mad? It was strange not knowing what emotion to show at a particular time but she hadn't expected him to say something quite like that. "I guess...maybe you're right. It's not me who's endured loneliness and sadness...it's Saturn. I guess I can't really complain about it because I've never really had it myself...and obviously, I don't know about you. I can tell from the tone of your voice...something happened...you can tell me if you want." She wasn't really sure where any of this was coming from...she just wanted to keep good graces and not make him mad since it was a very easy thing to do. All in all, she just wanted things to be...normal?

"That's none of your business, woman." Hiei shot back fiercely, finally moving from his spot to begin walking away.

"That's okay..." Hotaru piped up, "Kurama told me you might say something like that. He told me to wait so you can tell me when you're ready."

Damn fox, his past was none of this girl's business, and honestly, he didn't feel much like reliving it right now. Not to mention, Yukina was inside the house with the others. If she were to show up unexpectedly and hear...

"Sorry..." she whispered, hanging her head down low again as the tears began to well up in her eyes. Hiei took a look over his shoulder at her before leaving. They really didn't have time for this right now. With Kizami slowly recovering his power, they had to be prepared for anything at any time. Dammit, he really hated being dragged down into this mess. The detective had only just barely beaten Toguro, and the older brother had actually run off and disappeared; this wasn't the orange-haired idiot's fault, the older brother had simply vanished into thin air it seemed.

* * *

It was late, extremely so, as her bed-side clock flashed 3am exactly. It had only felt a like a little while ago that Michiru had spoken with her and practically tucked in her for the night, just as a concerned and loving mother would do for her daughter. But she couldn't sleep, there was just no possible way too. She had slept so much after the battle that her body was totally against sleep. Of course, there were plenty of other factors like Kizami recovering his power right under their noses, her possible 'fight' with Hiei...just too many things were going on in her mind at the moment.

At least she could take solace in the fact that the Taioron Crystal wasn't going to show up anymore, and that the Deathbusters were finished once and for all.

Speaking of the past, she was still curious to hear Hiei's story. There had to be something that happened in his past to...to make him act that way, to be so standoffish from everyone around. A reason he couldn't tell Yukina who he truly was?

It was so late though, there was nothing she could do. The entire house was littered with senshi, and while the Spirit Detectives had gone back to their own homes, they were really only a phone call away. Any attempt at sneaking out would be...wait a minute, sneaking out? Where had that idea come from? In fact, were would she even go if she did? What an odd thought...maybe she was getting sick or something?

Hotaru rolled over, eyes wide open, staring into space. What could she do to make herself sleep, she wondered when a sudden pain hit her. It was her head, it was pounding...this feeling was familiar. It had happened not too long ago, right after she had spoken with Hiei and met Kurama for the first time. A sudden pain in her head had caused her to pass out on her bed. She clutched at the flesh between her eyes and groaned in pain, no matter what way she turned or sat or what she did, the pain wouldn't stop.

Eventually, she gave into the pain and passed out.

* * *

Why was he here?

He felt foolish for coming all the way back over here in the middle of the night. Koenma hadn't sent him here, not that he followed the junior leader's commands much anyway, only engaging into missions if they interested him. Still...he pulled his hand from his cloak's pocket and looked down. What he held in his palm was a purple stick, a small orb, a planet, sat atop the stick. Around it, a single ring encased it. In the right light, it also glimmered with an otherworldly glare.

Hiei had found the stick right before the portal had opened, the object having skidded over from somewhere and landing near his feet. It was the stick that Hotaru always kept so close to her, the one that allowed the other spirit inside of her to take over. He had, of course, meant to return the stick earlier to her this day but...well, he didn't get the chance. Besides, he had no use for it and couldn't harness it's power for his own needs so it was useless to him.

He stared down at it...his thoughts scrambled. Why had she asked him about his past? Was this just more nonsense about the hiruseki stones? About some boy she'd seen in her dreams? She hadn't elaborated on it much, but he heard it briefly mentioned by her back at the hotel. It was none of her business, knowing it would do nothing for her...it was pointless. Now, where could he leave this thing? On the window sill of her room would have been his first choice. But if she never found it or if it fell would be bad for all of them when Kizami attacked. Maybe he could just leave it by the front door? Giving it to her in person was out of the question, he decided, quickly realizing after that another presence was nearby.

Ducking back into the shadowy safety of the tree, he looked down. It wasn't easy to sneak up on him...whoever or whatever they were, they were strong. Powerful yet capable of suppressing that power to avoid detection, and silent like the grave.

...Hotaru? The outline matched that of the human girl but something was off. No...it was the warrior, Saturn. She'd gained control of the body and wandered out here on her own...but for what purpose?

"You can come down now. I'd very much appreciate it if you'd return that stick to me." the cold voice said in a casual tone, almost as if she were speaking with an old friend.

With an expert turn, he exited the shadows but remained perched on the tree branch. Hiei still couldn't trust this woman...especially after this suspicious behavior. With a simple-looking toss, the fire demon threw the henshin wand with great enough force to make it zing through the air, hitting the palm of the warrior's hand with a fleshy-sounding impact.

"Do I detect some mistrust? I only felt the wand close to me and naturally sought it out. Any reason you were hanging onto it?" His eyes were honed enough to see from where he was, the woman was smiling at him in a knowing way almost.

"I've returned it to you, that should be all that matters." Hiei stated, bluntly as he prepared to leave. He didn't trust her, and didn't want to come to trust her. She and the human girl had been nothing but a nuisance to him since the day they crossed paths. Besides, he already had enough annoyances to deal with throughout the day, and definitely didn't want anymore on his hands.

"And just where will you go?" he faltered in his jump, catching his balance in the blink of an eye, the tree branch shaking from the force exerted onto it still. "If I recall correctly, as punishment for your crimes against the Reikai, you've been bolted down to this city. All in all, you're trapped here. True, you have quite a bit of room to move around but nonetheless are trapped like a rat in a cage."

Hiei growled with a glare, "Don't believe I'll think twice about killing your human host." he threatened, his hand automatically going to his sword as a result of the insult.

"You deny it then? Very well then, run off back to the Makai where you belong. Oh wait...the barrier that separates these worlds holds you back, doesn't it? And you can't leave until that ban on you is lifted, am I right? No need to get angry, swordsman, I'm just giving you good enough reason to stay. Make you angry enough and you either run away or engage in a fight. You know, the blue-haired reaper is quite talkative when intoxicated." Saturn laughed lowly, her voice just barely above a whisper.

He jumped down near her, "Is that what you want of me? A fight? You're rather irritating when you try to be." he remarked, his hands quickly going back into the pockets on his cloak.

Saturn turned slightly to face him completely, Hotaru's cutesy pajamas looking rather out of place on the stone-like warrior. "I'm afraid there are things we must discuss, something less pleasant than a fight, swordsman. Kizami will back in a matter of 3 days time. I've come to warn you first for many reasons, but mainly as you have fought against him alongside me. We know what he is capable of, his powers, his trickery...we'll be the most likely candidates to bring him down."

"3 days? That's hardly anything to worry about. The fool is weak, not to mention hurt and confused. There's no way he could possibly heal himself back to full strength in that amount of time with the wound I dealt him. And just how do you know that, woman?"

"True, he won't be at full power when he returns but his injuries will make him desperate, wild and unpredictable. We must all be on guard since he will undoubtedly come after Hotaru first. And as for my knowledge of these situations, it's...shall we say, classified, for now. I'll tell you all you need to know in time. But for now, I ask this of you...stay by Hotaru for these next 3 days and watch over her."

He paused and glared again, "And just what purpose will that serve? If you know for certain he'll appear in 3 days time, why should I-"

"I've told you all you need to be concerned with." Saturn said simply, turning her back on him. This only caused him to growl in response, apparently not fond of a taste of his own medicine. Saturn stopped after only a few feet though, turning around, "What else will you do in that amount of time? There is nowhere suitable in this human city for you train, correct? Not without the Reikai on your back about damages and human endangerment. Here, you can have a suitable place to train. Underneath this house is a hollowed out space that is used for training grounds by the senshi. You'll have all the room and privacy you need there to train...if you wish. The walls down there have been built with a special alloy that not even your dragon could damage. However...in exchange for this, you must grant me something as well."

A pause, "...and just what would that be?"

"Surely you know. The information that Hotaru hoped to get out of you today. Why not tell me about your past? Her little heart is quite set on it for some reason, possibly an answer to her unusual dreams? About the hiruseki stone and the mysterious _boy_?" He didn't like the way she emphasized boy, but shook his head nonetheless.

"Nice try, but you're not going to force into telling you that story. Besides, it would do her no good to hear it, it's pointless. Besides, I'm not even sure if I remember most of it."

"Well, we have all night for you to try and remember..."

* * *

Hotaru awoke the next morning more tired than when she'd fallen asleep. It must have happened some time in the night, obviously, as it was now morning. She sat up slowly...she could really use a shower right now, for many reasons. Quickly undressing, she headed to the bathroom located inside of her own room, running a hot shower for herself; happy and surprised that there was still hot water left considering how many senshi were currently staying at the house.

She couldn't pretend anymore...everything was weird. It was weird not waking up and saying hello to Saturn in the morning, not having a brief moment of panic in the back of her mind in the name of modesty that the warrior might see her as she entered the shower...true, she hadn't tried to talk to Saturn this morning. But if the warrior had really been out of commission yesterday, then she should be fully awake today, right? Greeting Hotaru and letting her know that she was fine? But there was nothing.

When the water started to run lukewarm, she climbed out and got dressed in a simple shirt and yoga pants, not really caring about her appearance at the moment. It was hard to considering things. She decided to head downstairs, expecting to hear a loud clamoring as it was breakfast time and Usagi and Minako were sure to be arguing over some piece of food. Still, she heard nothing. Odd...she walked into the kitchen to find it strangely empty, just as the living room had been.

At least on the counter a note had been left behind. She couldn't recognize the hand-writing, but found it to be very neat...if she had to guess, she'd say it was Ami's hand-writing. It spoke of how everyone had gone to Rei's temple like the good old days, and since Yuuichirou and Rei's grandfather were still keeping the old temple up and running, it seemed like the best place to go. It made no mention of the Spirit Detective group, so she assumed they must be off having their own meeting elsewhere. At the end of the note were instructions on how to get to the temple, just in case she didn't remember where it was. Now she definitely knew it was Ami's note.

...wait a minute, didn't this mean she was technically alone? What of their great plan to keep an eye on her at all times? Maybe...one of the cats had stayed behind? According to Usagi, Luna, Artemis, and Diana reverted to their humans form after the battle with Galaxia and returned back to the future where they were needed. Upon being alerted of this new threat, all 3 royal cats had donned their feline disguises once more to grant the senshi some guidance.

"Luna...? Artemis...? Diana...?"

Hotaru called only once, their hearing quite perceptive in this state. She wandered about as she called, checking various pieces of furniture to make sure they weren't curled up asleep anywhere. Still, there was no answer and no sign of anyone. None of this added up at all...

'Hotaru...'

Hotaru dropped the note in her hand, the flimsy paper wafting slowly the ground. Her eyes widened in response, "Saturn...Saturn, is that really you? You're okay? I'm so glad to finally hear from you! Please don't ever disappear like that again!"

'Hotaru, you must compose yourself.' It was a rather difficult task when you were in a flurry as she was, made even worse by the fact that there was nothing substantial to hold onto. 'There's a great many things I must tell you. Please sit down for this.' Hotaru eagerly did so and waited as the warrior materialized before her in a standing position.

"Saturn, what happened? Where have you have been since the battle?"

The warrior knowingly tapped at her temple to signify the inside of Hotaru's mind, "Asleep...I was merely resting to recover after the battle." Hotaru nodded, happy, that was good to know. "I have something for you, my dear Hotaru. I have no idea what you see in that swordsman but if his past interests you so much then you may know it." Before Hotaru could ask any questions, Saturn quickly placed two fingers to the girl's forehead and began projecting thoughts directly into her mind, just as she had done when re-awakening Hotaru.

The memories came to her slowly, beginning at a raging blizzard that held within it a small collection of people. This place was familiar...she'd seen this place before, back when she'd passed out in the shower at the hotel. The scene shifted to show a young woman holding a baby over the edge of a cliff, sobbing as she did so, before finally releasing her grip and letting him fall to the ground below. Hotaru jumped when she recognized this scene as well, it was here that she had tried to yell for the woman to stop but her voice was never heard. And the baby...then did that mean...

Another scene change, one that she knew she hadn't seen. It was a much younger Hiei training with a pack of demon...maybe he was just plain fighting with them, she couldn't tell.

Scene change and a flash of light, she watched as her first strange dream unfolded before her very eyes. Hiei fought against a sneak attack from a demon, aptly losing the hiruseki stone around his neck as it fell down into a running stream from the cliff-side.

Finally, the last one began to play out in her mind. She didn't know quite how but something just told her this was it. A young Hiei looked down below as he watched over a young Yukina to ensure her safety. A scene change and she became witness to how the Jagan Eye was planted into his forehead...and why.

Hotaru blinked, tears readily streaming down her face. It had not been a projection without words, no, she could hear his voice low in the background illustrating each point of every memory that flashed across her mind. Now she knew...she knew the whole story. He'd been alone just as she had been before the scouts, to even greater degree than she. No, it just wasn't fair...why hadn't someone come along and...like the senshi did for her...and...

Hotaru jumped up from her spot and ran up the steps with such force that the wood actually creaked under her tiny weight. She flew into her room, grabbing and putting on her shoes, along with a small shawl which she threw over her shoulders. Yanking open a drawer with more force than should have been capable for her, she pulled from within a tiny key.

"Hotaru, just what do you think you're doing? I showed you those memories to help you better understand him so you could become friends, not for you to make a rash decision like this." Apparently the warrior recognized what she held in her hand...she should, it was a Cronos Key. A device that enabled the user to swiftly move back and forth to the Time Gates if they so chose; Setsuna have given one to her and Chibi-Usa specifically as they were the two most recent visitors.

"It's not right, Saturn. I tried to go back in time to save you from your fate once but I was stopped before I could do anything-"

"Because it's forbidden! That is not your domain and you are not mettle in it! Know your place!"

"I'm sorry, Saturn, I can't listen to you this time. I want to be able to make something right...I want to be able to save the day just once, to be the savior that someone holds in high regards. Being the senshi of Death and Destruction is awful! No one appreciates or understand the burdens we have to bear, they even tried to kill us once! Just once...let me be a hero..." Hotaru whispered, the tiny key begin to flicker with power within her palm.

"Hotaru, don't!"

"I'm sorry-" Hotaru whispered before disappearing in a flash of light.

* * *

She wasn't going to wait for Pluto to return, she couldn't. There was no way the Time Guardian would let her jump through the Time Gates and just nonchalantly go back in time, no matter the reason. When they had revisited the memories of the past, she had slipped off to find Saturn and free her from her confines, but was aptly caught by guards of the past who refused to allow her passage into the castle. This time though, she was definitely going to make things right.

Hotaru ran as fast as she possibly could, the fog floating at ankle's length holding no obstacle to her as she ran. A bell chimed in the distance...that meant she was getting close! Up ahead, a dark silhouette stood out, the shape of a door. The closer she got, the more light was shed on to the bulky, grey door. It was lined with intricate carvings, each paneling holding a different phase of the moon as a nod to their princess. The giant handles were a glossy, gold color, made from a material found only in the rich soils of the planet Pluto. She was almost there...she stopped for breath at the threshold, almost appearing to be admiring the door's artwork. With a creak, she flung the giant doors open and looked down into the swirling mists of time. A long time ago, when she had still been a child, Pluto explained to her how to use the Time Gates in case of an emergency, meaning she knew full well how to operate it without her help.

Well...here went nothing, she gulped and pushed off with her feet to jump...but she didn't get far as a pair of arms easily pulled her back and flung her away. The door loudly slammed shut, backing away almost as they did so before disappearing.

"Hotaru, what is the meaning of this?!"

Damn...she'd been caught. Pluto had surely gotten here quickly, almost as if she were expecting the girl...still Pluto was supposed to be on watch for someone messing with the time stream so it was to be expected that the senshi be close by.

"Pluto, you don't understand...get out of my way! There's something I have to do!" Hotaru almost gasped at her own words...she'd never spoken this harshly to anyone, much less Pluto.

"Hotaru, you know it is forbidden to do so without my permission. And your task is not one worthy of travel." The Time Guardian ticked, hoping to make the young girl understand. She knew...she knew the girl was weeping for the fire demon's lonely past and wished to change it but...it couldn't be done. Those events were meant to happen and re-ordering them could even cause catastrophic events. "Hotaru...do I need to remind you of the butterfly effect? Of all things that could go wrong, that one-"

"I know what it is Pluto...even the tiniest or slightest change to the past, like the beat of a butterfly's wing, could drastically change the future as we know it. But Pluto, I know what I'm supposed to change, I won't be going in without a plan. Please Pluto...he means a lot to me...and even though I'm really not sure why I'm acting so strongly about this I just know that I need to help him."

Pluto's stern face softened and a sigh graced her lips, her face turning to the side. "Those memories Saturn showed you...they weren't complete, by any means."

"Wh-...what do you mean?" Hotaru asked, her own tense body finally relaxing in front of the senshi. Without warning, Saturn suddenly materialized between them, rage very clearly apparent on her face.

"Pluto! You made me a promise! You can't tell her!"

"Saturn...she needs to know the truth and you know that. We can't have past events repeating themselves again. It's already bad enough what's happened so far...we're lucky that this time line is stable as it is. We've all learned by now that suppressing memories does no one any good."

"And why risk that by letting her know the truth? That could very well be the undoing piece!"

Hotaru quietly looked on, her eyes following back and forth as the two ancient senshi argued about...who knows what? Time line? A promise? What did they know that she didn't? What was being kept from her? Balling her hands into fists, she mustered her voice as loud as she could, "QUIET!" she breathed loudly for a moment, making sure they were granting her the grace to speak before doing so, "What are you talking about? What is it that you two know that I don't? Is it about me...about me and Hiei?"

Saturn grunted and turned away, Pluto slowly turned her eyes to the small human girl.

"I'm afraid it does, Hotaru, you see...the time line we are currently in...is not our original time line."

Hotaru blinked...what? Just what did that mean?

"Our original time line was...well, it was very much like this one. All events from the past were the same, and you meeting with those boys after the fight with Galaxia was the same, too. And just like now, you tried to go back in time to correct things. Neither Saturn nor I were here to stop you though and you time-jumped. After that...we lost you. Hotaru, you died in our original time line because of that time-jump. Do you see now why we tried to stop you?"

"W-well...if I died...wouldn't Saturn and I just be brought back to life?"

"That's just the thing though...we lost you. We were unable to find your body anywhere in the time stream, it was if you had just vanished. Saturn remained in our time with me, although since she had no host, she was little more than a spirit. It was Saturn who came up with the idea to reverse time and move to an alternate but almost identical, existing time line. You see, in the original time line, you and Saturn had no knowledge of your separate existences." Pluto tacked onto the end when Hotaru seemed confused, "And I know this must be incredibly confusing right now, but believe us as it is the truth. In this time line, which was the closest we could find to the original, you and Saturn are very good, close friends and watch out for each other. And, also in this time line, the Hiei you know is a tad more hostile to you."

"More hostile...than the old time line then?" Hotaru supplied.

"Correct. In the old time line, your kindness and good nature got through to him and he eventually opened up to you. Even though he wouldn't publicly call you friend, you two were very close. But alas, going back to the old time line isn't possible as you would disappear...that has nothing to do with you going into the past though. The reason we wanted to keep you from time-jumping is to avoid losing you period and to keep my promise to Saturn. I promised her that I would seal everyone's memories from the old time line. But since we've come this far-"

"Not yet. I'm going back in time whether you say so or not. I know I can get it right this time, Pluto. I won't disappear! I'll come back safe and sound, and the future will be a much better place. I know it!"

"Hotaru..."

"Please!"

Pluto looked uneasily between the small girl and the transparent warrior who was shaking her head in disbelief. Finally, Pluto sighed and turned to the side, showing Hotaru that she now had access to the Time Gates.

"Hotaru," Saturn called, "know this...I asked Pluto to move us all to a new time line just so that we could be friends and so that you could once again be my host. If you obtain even a single scratch, I'm going to kill you personally." The warrior warned as Hotaru creaked the doors opened. Hotaru turned to smile at her, tears clouding up her eyes as she hastily leapt into the mists of time.

* * *

_**Okay, let's have some author's notes and explanations. The time line in which our story currently takes place is not the original time line in which the characters are from. When Hotaru tried to go back into the past, Saturn and Pluto stayed behind. She somehow got lost in the vortex of time and never came back causing Pluto to turn back time before all of this happened and move everyone to an alternate but practically identical time line. Hotaru and Saturn are able to separate for a short while but it is by no means a permanent thing; if Saturn's soul goes too long without a body, then her soul will disappear, and not just anyone can be a good host for her soul hence one reason why she wanted Hotaru back. Saturn and Pluto kept most of their memories from the old time line but sealed certain ones to avoid letting secrets slip out (hence why Setsuna looked up hiruseki stones; doing so unlocked her memories of the entire situation).**_

_**Also in the original time line, Hotaru and Hiei were quite fond of each other as she was able to get through to him and become a friend and ally, possibly even a little romance there...maybe? Whenever Saturn materializes in front of Hotaru, they are officially separated for a short period of time. As to why Saturn showed those memories to Hotaru if she knew there a was a chance she might repeat her actions, well...keep reading future chapters for that one.**_

_**Anywho, if anything is unclear, please let me know so that I can go back and correct it so that future chapters will make sense.**_


	12. Time's Makin' Changes

_** Mew Aqua Spirit: Yep, maybe a little confusing (okay a lot) but it's definitely going to be interesting! And lol, thank you! **_

_** aquafina rain: Thank you for letting me know that you figured it out! I was worried that it might seem a bit too complicated when all the parts weren't revealed but I'm glad that so far it makes sense. As far as Hotaru going back in time (I actually thought I might not have mentioned this but I did), after Saturn related Hiei's past to her, Hotaru wants to go back in time to change just that; so as a child, he will have a friend, not lose his hiruseki stone, not keep his relation to Yukina a secret, etc. As far as those three things though, they'll be revealed in this chapter so...a little bit of spoilers there.**_

_** CresentMoon90: Quite unexpected apparently! XD Thank you for your kinds words and I hope you (and everyone else) enjoys the new chapter.**_

_** Black Convoy: Thanks! I've tried my best to keep it simple but I know I've failed miserably at it.**_

_** bur bur: Thank you!**_

_** alicawonder: Thank you! Fell a little behind in my updates there but I seriously couldn't get this chapter to come out right. ^_^'**_

* * *

Hotaru flew through the mists of time, her hair flailing violently around her. These passageways worked like open space, an semi-airless vacuum that pulled travelers through their intended portals and vortexes. It was all a matter of mental programming without Setsuna, but since the Time Guardian had given her full passage, the woman would open the portal needed for Hotaru to go back and enter Hiei's past. This meant...she was likely going back 10 years, give or take a little. 10 years ago, she was still just a kid herself, having no idea about demons or Sailor Senshi or anything like that...just an ordinary, lonely young girl.

'Pluto, can I request one more thing of you?' the girl asked mentally, sensing that the portal she sought was not far off.

'What is it that you need, Hotaru?' The Time Guardian sounded neither angry nor miffed, only mysterious and omniscient.

'Is it possible for me to appear as I would have during that time period? I would have been about 4 or 5, right? To avoid any more disruption with the time stream, it would bode better for us to do this.'

'I'll see what I can do...' the woman trailed off, her voice disappearing in an instant.

* * *

Hotaru had blinked at the flash of blinding white light, signifying her arrival. She opened her eyes to look around...if her first dream had truly been one of his memories (like she had suspected about all of the previous dreams she'd had), then this was definitely the place. Looking down at herself, she didn't notice much of a change; she was still wearing her simple black shirt, yoga pants, and slip-on shoes. At the sight of her sloppy dress, she blushed...why couldn't she have at least dressed up a little more?

She took a glance at the ground, something causing her to falter in her first step. It was a large puddle, meaning that it must have rained quite a bit either yesterday or today. It wasn't muddy, but instead quite clear, and Hotaru caught sight of her reflection. She looked younger...no, she was younger, but only in this illusion. Neither Pluto nor Setsuna had the power of age manipulation, but the power of illusions worked quite well when one was in the time stream. Right now, in the illusion, she resembled a 4 or 5 year old just like she'd requested...honestly, she didn't really know how old she would have been during this particular period of time...she might have just been a baby herself but this age seemed the most practical.

Now all she had to do was find Hiei which wouldn't prove to be a hard task, considering where she'd landed was a part of one of his memories. She looked back down at the puddle...something didn't quite seem right about it. Hotaru quickly looked around again, this wasn't right...this was the only puddle in sight. If it had rained like she'd originally thought then there would have puddles all over. That's when it hit her...she'd been here before, she knew what had made this puddle and where to go from. This puddle had been made after Hiei had been thrown from that snowy plane...

She quickly ran, quickly happening upon a group of demons and oni crowded around something. Hotaru opened her mouth, ready to shout and drive them off but stopped herself...there's no way they'd be afraid of her like this. In fact, they might even turn on her and try to kill her. Now there was no question as to what they were crowded around, it was a baby-Hiei.

Damn...there was nothing she could do here. Still, there would be more opportunities, she decided, signaling Pluto that she was ready to go to the next memory of Hiei's past.

A flash of white light blurred her vision before landing her in much the same place. This area looked no different, perhaps a few more trees had grown since then but it was still the same area of Makai. Suddenly, she heard footsteps and yelling, but before she could move, a black blur quickly jumped over her head. Uncovering from her duck, she looked back, "...Hiei?"

There was still someone coming this way! She had to move, follow after Hiei and make sure that whoever was pursuing him never caught up.

"Now we gotcha!" Hotaru found herself suddenly in the tight grip of a demon. Had they mistaken her for Hiei? Well, they were dressed similarly but it would only be a matter of time before they-a spurt of blood and she was free. Something had cut them both down but what...she quickly turned to look over her shoulder.

"Hiei!" she chorused, only to realize her mistake afterward; Hiei still had no idea who she was in this time because they hadn't met yet.

"Just how do you know my name? Have you come to steal my hiruseki stone, too?" His voice wasn't quite as cold and harsh as the one back in her time, still, she could tell there was sadness, hurt, and a bit of loneliness in his tone. The last sentence had even come out almost playfully. Hotaru quickly shook her head of black locks and walked slowly towards him, taking one of his small hands into hers. It was rough and calloused already, done so by training for days with his sword.

"Hiei, you may not believe me but I've actually come from the future. You and I become friends in the future, and we end up fighting alongside each other. My name is Hotaru Tomoe, and believe me, you're not as alone as you may think. You have many friends in my time, and you also have a sister, Yukina. Promise me that when you find her, you'll tell her that you're related." Hotaru wasn't quite sure where to end it, she'd kind of just been blabbing things out, hoping that something would catch the boy's attention and that he'd interrupt her or at least do something instead of standing there and looking at her like she was crazy.

"From the future? That doesn't make any sense. I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I'm not falling for it." he said, turning on his heel with a swish of his cape. He didn't have time to stand around and talk to this girl, he had to find more opponents, stronger opponents, and train.

"Wait, don't go! You have to believe me, Hiei! I'm telling the truth!" she yelled out after him, jogging to catch up with his slow walking pace. "I know about your hiruseki stone, I can prove I'm from the future and that I'm your friend. When you were just a baby, your mother dropped you over the edge of that snowy plain down into the Makai. Your hiruseki stone came from her, right? Yukina told me that a hiruseki stone is created when a mother sheds a single tear for her child. See? I know..." By now the two of them had ceased walking, he a little further ahead than she. Hotaru panted, a little lost of breath from yelling all that.

"That woman...wasn't my mother." he said bluntly...any resident of Makai should have known what a hiruseki stone was, it was precious and invaluable, but for her to know that...there was no way she could have been there, she couldn't even call the floating island by it's correct name. "So...you know that because you came from the future?" he questioned uncertainly, turning over his shoulder to see.

Hotaru smiled happily as joy spread across her face, she'd finally gotten through to him! "That's right! You and I meet up in the human world a few years later, and we fight a great battle together! Before you met me though, you were already friends with two humans who could wield their spirit energy as weapons, and Youko Kurama...you know him, right?" Hotaru couldn't recall if she'd ever heard how Hiei and Kurama met...maybe it was around this time?

"You mean the spirit fox...?"

"He came to the human world in my timeline and disguised himself as a human. Believe me, I'm telling the truth."

"If you are from the future, then why did you come back to tell me all of this? What do you gain from it?"

Hotaru released his hand now that he'd finally turned around to see her. "I just...I want you to be happy. In my future, you're a very distant person...you don't open up much at all. You're cold and very distrusting..."

"You just claimed that we were friends in the future yet now you contradict yourself."

"Well...I suppose it's a little hard to explain when you put it that way. Still, because of what happens in your past, you go through some hard times and I just didn't want you to go through them...as a friend." she hastily tacked on although she wasn't sure why...afraid that he might get the wrong idea, maybe?

"I see...suppose I believe you and do as you say, what then?"

"I...I honestly don't know. I can only hope that your future becomes brighter...that's all. The idea of being alone isn't one I'm fond of and I don't wish a future of that on anyone." she whispered, turning her purple eyes to the ground in sadness. Once she actually took the time to think about it...what would the future be like? Better? Worse? Would she even be in his future? No, that didn't really matter as long as he was happy, that was her true mission in doing this. "So...will you? Tell Yukina, I mean. If you can find her...just make sure you hold on tight to your hiruseki stone, too. You shouldn't be showing it off like that..."

"I'll think about it." he said simply, face blank. Hotaru nodded in response, her face very similar...his lack of enthusiasm wasn't very reassuring.

'Hotaru, I can feel the pocket you are occupying becoming unstable! You must leave it-!' Pluto warned mentally, Hotaru responding with an affirmative.

"I...I have to go now." Hotaru said shakily, her voice weak...this could be the last time she spoke with Hiei after all. "There's just so many things I want to talk with you about and so many things I want to ask you but...I have to go now. Goodbye...Hiei." And with that, she mentally prepared herself to leave this particular memory, unsure of where the time stream would take her next.

"Alright Pluto," Hotaru began, feeling her body swimming through darkness, her vision no more than a soupy black mist, "what do I do from here? How do I return back to the new future, mental cognition?" There came no answer, just silence. Perhaps this was just an automatic process then, Hotaru decided, she was obviously on some kind of course headed to somewhere...she just wasn't quite sure where.

* * *

Hotaru found herself laying down face first in a patch of grass, the sound of laughter, voices, and various other modern day noises she was used to hearing filled the air. She must be back in her own time in the human world. The tiny girl sat up with a smile, her shoulder a little sore admittedly, apparent that she must have landed on it after the time jump.

Although hidden within a cluster of bushes, she could quite clearly look out and view her surroundings...she knew this park, she'd gone past it on a few occasions, the most recent one being the time when she first met Yusuke and Kayko. Hmm, this was an interesting place to drop her off at considering the Outer Senshi mansion was quite a ways from here. Still...Hotaru couldn't stop the small smile that broke out across her features...Pluto had said the pocket had become unstable while she there, this meant the future was changing...had changed. This meant something had happened...considering that everything looked normal, then nothing too awful had happened.

She arose to her feet shakily, wondering exactly where she should try and look first. She almost felt a little disgusted with herself when she found herself wondering just what had changed in the future...if she was lucky, then nothing much. Looking around, she found the tall post in the middle of the park that held a giant clock head...perfect, it was nearly time for school to be letting out which meant that Kayko and Yusuke would be walking this way any moment. Ignoring any strange looks she might have received, she began to race off toward the small tunnel that connected the over head bridge. They would surely have to walk this way...

"Kayko!" Hotaru waved cheerfully once the girl came into view, giving a slight run to stand before her.

"Oh, um...I'm sorry, have we met before?" the brown-haired girl questioned genuinely, the petite girl in front of her a complete stranger. She wasn't even a wearing a school uniform which meant she had no way of identifying where she was from.

"Huh...? Of...of course we have! I'm Hotaru Tomoe!" Still the girl before her maintained her confused look.

"I'm sorry miss, but you must have be mistaken for someone else. Uh excuse me..." Kayko gave a small bow and side-stepped around the girl, planning to continue her walk home.

"W-wait!" Hotaru managed to choke out, "We have met before! I'm a friend of Yusuke's!"

The mention of his name caused Kayko to stop, Hotaru was getting the reaction she wanted...or so she hoped. "Yu-...Yusuke? As in Yusuke Urameshi? So you know him? What do you want then? Money or something? You'd better back off, I can defend myself you know!" Kayko warned, grabbing her book bag handle tightly, "So just back off, okay?"

Hotaru stood there dumbfounded...was this one of the changes? She and Kayko were no longer friends...and neither was Yusuke? Then that must have meant...Yusuke was no longer Spirit Detective either. If Kayko was afraid of him, then that must have meant Yusuke was a lot colder in this timeline...possibly even embracing his delinquent nature and becoming a gang leader or something...it made sense when she took Kayko's reaction into account.

Hotaru stared, mouth agape at the girl's retreating form...just what else had she changed?

* * *

Dejectedly, Hotaru dropped her small body onto a park bench that was situated on the outskirts of an extremely busy and bustling park. The place was crowed with children and their laughter, but no smile came to her face. So...this was it...this was the future she'd wanted so badly? It just...things didn't make sense, none of this was fair. All she had wanted to was make sure Hiei had had a friend and didn't lose his hiruseki stone...that way he wouldn't have had to get the Jagan Eye and wouldn't have to keep his secret from Yukina. But now...nothing was right anymore. She'd spent the better part of the day running around town, asking everywhere and everyone she thought might have had a clue.

According to what she'd gathered so far, Yusuke was no spirit detective but instead was 10x the delinquent he'd been before, going so far as to have some kind of cult following between all the punks that littered the surrounding middle and high schools. As a result, this meant he and Kayko were definitely not friends, and from the way she'd acted, was much too terrified to even approach him.

The Kuwabara siblings were nowhere to be found. Their home was being occupied by another family. Could it have been possible that they'd actually moved here instead of living here from the start? As in, now that the timeline had changed, their family had never moved to this town?

After finally locating Kurama's human parents, a couple by the name Minamino, Hotaru was shocked to discover that the boy living there was not Kurama at all, but a regular human child. This meant...he must have never been injured in Makai, never lost Kuronue, and never came to the human world. It was a story she'd been told at one of the down times of the Dark Tournament and Kurama had no reason to lie or disguise himself around her anymore.

So that was it then...everyone was scattered and everything had changed, none for the better. Was it true then...that old saying? The more happiness you wish for a person, someone else gets cursed with equal misery? She hadn't been able to find out a single thing about Hiei. God, why was she so stupid? Just because she changed all that didn't mean he'd be here right now...why on Earth would he even come to the human world?

Thankfully, the mansion that belonged to the Outers was still in their name but...there was no one home, and surprisingly, no one came to the door despite the fact that the cars were parked in the garage. It didn't make sense to her. Was she being ignored? She tried to telepathically contact Pluto or Saturn but to no avail. There was just...no one. She was alone in this world now. Well...she could try and make her way back the Outers house again, she supposed. Maybe they had just stepped out for a moment. It was better than just sitting here in the hot blazing sun with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"Excuse me, miss, do you mind if I sit here?" Hotaru quickly turned her eyes upward, automatically repositioning herself on the other side of the bench.

"Oh...no, I don't mind." Hotaru replied, finally realizing just who had sit beside her. "Yukina?" she whispered, the ice-blue haired girl was unmistakeable. She was even wearing her signature red ribbons and blue kimono. Not a single thing looked different about her!

Apparently Yukina hadn't heard her name being called, and simply sat quietly by her, hands folded neatly in her lap. "I'm sorry, please don't take this the wrong way...it's just...I just felt the need to speak with you. Again, I apologize if that sounds...weird or intrusive."

"Of course not!" Hotaru shot back with a smile, trying to keep her joy in check and forcing herself not to jump up and hug the koorime. This was great. So, Yukina didn't fully recognize who she was but had the feeling she'd met Hotaru somewhere before; it was a side-effect Pluto had mentioned to her one time about dimension and time-line jumping. Even if the Yukina in this time line didn't recognize her, it was simply because she'd met Yukina before in another timeline that the girl even acknowledged her in the first place. It wasn't always a certainty though as shown by Kayko's reaction. "Yukina, my name is Hotaru. Um, I don't really know how to explain this but-"

"Hotaru...you mean, _that_ Hotaru? Hotaru Tomoe?!" Yukina seemed flustered...horrified was a bit stretching it but the shock on her face was a little too extreme for someone who'd basically just re-encountered a long lost friend.

"Yes, it's me!" Hotaru grabbed the girl's hands in her own, "Oh, you don't know how glad I am to see you. I really don't have a lot of time to explain but now that I've found you we need to find Hiei too!" Yukina was still clearly a demon, easily identifiable by the aura she gave off, which meant she and Hiei would have easy access to Makai and hopefully Reikai as well. Maybe if she could speak with Koenma, she could contact Setsuna and try to reverse all of this. It did make her sad...and pathetic-feeling. She was basically playing God with the lives of her friends, trying to make everything turn out the way she wanted. Pluto had tried to warn her that she couldn't change things again after this...but she could still try. After all, what was wrong with wanting a little happiness for yourself? Even if her happiness was influenced by those around her; if the people she cared for was happy, she didn't need anything else.

This would be her 4th time jump in all. The first time she had time jumped, she had tried to go back to the Silver Millennium and free Saturn from her eternal sleep. It was a bit terrifying, this journey down a dark tower to a dark room where she'd found Saturn chained a to wall. Before she could even get close to her and help, Pluto had appeared and pulled her back. The 2nd time had happened when Pluto moved everyone to a similar time line to avoid the fate of her ill-fated jump into the past to find Hiei the first time. The third time was now, the one that had landed her in the midst of all this. The 4th...well, that was only going to happen if she could somehow contact Setsuna.

"I see..." Yukina whispered, her eyes stony with sadness as she turned and looked at the ground, hands falling from Hotaru's grasp. "You're looking for my brother...Hiei? Right?" Hotaru nodded eagerly. "I can tell you where to find him, after all, it is that time of day. I'm sorry though, I won't be able to go with you. Still, I'm sure you can find the place on your own." Yukina explained softly, vague, as she begin to give directions to her brother's supposed location. Just what had she meant by 'that time of day'?

"Are you sure...that you can't come?" Hotaru asked in confusion, she hadn't really considered herself to be overly good friends with the koorime, the two only having spent very little time together during the tournament. However, familiar faces were far and in-between here and having the girl with her made her feel more...safe. Yukina shook her head sadly, "Not right now. I'll find you both later. I'm sure there are many things you two need to discuss." And with a small push off of the bench, the ice-blue haired girl began to walk in the opposite direction, as soundlessly as she had appeared.

* * *

Hotaru knew this area like the back of her hand and if she was correctly following Yukina's directions in her head that would lead her to...the cemetery. The thought caused her to skid to a stop...no, it couldn't be that. He...couldn't be...in a human cemetery...no, that just didn't add up. So if he wasn't dead, then why would he be there? "At this time of day", as Yukina had remarked. She ran through her thoughts of people that could have now been dead as a result of her actions even though the idea made her sick. But there was no one, everyone was accounted for; even if it had been someone she knew, Hiei didn't know all of the senshi and he wouldn't have much reason to be there at all anyhow if that was the case.

This is the place, Hotaru noted mentally, the fake wrought-iron gates permanently pulled open to allow visitors inside. Actually, she knew this place quite well. It was the same cemetery where both of her human parents were buried. While she was here, she could at least pay her respects after all...she hadn't even realized it until now. She'd been so terrified of returning to this place yet came without a second thought when the idea of Hiei being here came up. It was almost as if her psyche was saying it was safe to come inside now since he would protect from anything bad. Whatever 'bad' might have been...

She ventured in at a good pace, mindful of where she stepped. This was mainly a Japanese cemetery but with a few different traits about it; some Americans and other foreigners were buried here, too, meaning there were bodies buried beneath her along with crematory pots sitting beneath grave markers.

"Hiei...are you here?" she called, fear making her voice shaky. Things were starting to seem really strange here...

"And who are-..." Hotaru turned at the sound of the voice, turning around to face the very black-clad boy she'd been seeking in the first place. Something seemed to have caused the boy to go silent, a genuine expression of confusion and surprise adorning his face instead of scowl. Hotaru could feel tears welling up in her eyes...but just where were these feelings coming from? They almost didn't feel like her own. That same pain in her heart was acting up again, hopefully it wasn't becoming something serious. "Hotaru...is that you...?" he tried again, voice as unsure as his facial expression. She'd never heard his voice so...weak-sounding, so unsure and in-hardened by anger. He almost sounded normal...but that surely wouldn't make sense to anyone but her.

"Yes, it's me. I-" Before she could even explain herself, Hotaru found herself caught up in a back-crushing hug by the fire demon. "Wha..." she managed, cheeks flushed red in embarrassment and surprise...what was he...was he actually...were they hugging right now? If her brain had been active she might have tried to return his hug, but her arms just weren't listening to her. This felt strange...and yet familiar, warm and inviting as if they'd done it before. It felt like the most natural thing in the world, and yet it didn't. What was happening here? Was there something her mind was trying to tell her?

"How did you...come back?" he asked, arms still locked firmly around her, a palm keeping her head close to his shoulder.

"Come back?" Hotaru asked, now sharing in the boy's confusion. It wasn't like she'd gone ahead into the future or anything so this Hiei should have no knowledge of what had happened in the previous time line...just the vague impression that he'd met or known her before.

"How are you back in the land of the living?"

Hotaru paled, pulling out of his hug. She was the who had died.

"Hiei, you have to listen to me...I am Hotaru, but I'm not the Hotaru you know. I come from a vastly different time line where the two of us are barely even acquaintances." She went on to quickly explain about her time line with Yusuke as Spirit Detective and how he and the others had been in many battles together. Before long, she found herself out of breath and the two moved to sit beside each other underneath a nearby cherry blossom tree. She continued on about how the two of them met and the common enemy they'd come to share, Kizami. She explained about how he'd kept his past secret from her and once she'd learned it, had gone back in time to try and change it. All too soon, she had to rest her voice again, not use to talking so fast and fervently, hoping that all of this was sinking in to the much more openly emotional Hiei. Truth be told, he'd already been told all of this but she had to make sure he remembered the most important parts since he was only a child the first time she'd explained it.

"I see..." he said after a long while, "so that means, you can't stay with me, right?"

Hotaru looked taken aback before a wave of sadness washed over her. She closed her mouth and eyes and shook her head 'no'. That no matter how happy she was to see him, she ultimately had to return to her own time and set things right.

"Are you sure? It doesn't sound like a very good place to return to. This place is hardly ever attacked by demons, there's no spirit energy lingering here which is why Yukina and I came to this town in the first place. We came to get away from all the madness happening in Makai right now. Supposedly there's some war about to happen over there. I had to protect her so I brought her here, but it's hard trying to keep an eye on her at all times, you know? You said in that time line I went through with getting the Jagan Eye...was I stronger?"

"Than you are now? Probably. But when the eye was first implanted, you became super weak. And you were made to promise that you couldn't tell Yukina who you were...in my time line, Yukina is still wandering around looking for her brother."

"Damn." It was short reply that summed up all of his feelings nicely. It was hard to tell what was better in this situation...what was the lesser of the two evils. Honestly, he didn't like the sound of either option. If he had had his Jagan Eye, then maybe he'd be powerful enough to take on one of the Kings of Makai. After all, he was still a demon and still craved combat, but he simply wasn't powerful enough to take one of them on right now, not with just the regular strength of a fire demon.

"So you're telling me, my time line is a result of you going back into the past. If you hadn't done this, if we hadn't met as children, we'd still be in your time line?" Hotaru nodded, more or less.

"You know, I still remember meeting you as a kid even though it seemed ridiculous at the time. I even remembered most of what you told me back then." Hotaru smiled at his statement but it faded quickly.

There was a silence that hung about them for what seemed like ages, the tree rustling in the breeze as the onsets of afternoon began to show. The air around them began to drop in temperature a little, but not terribly so as it was still summer. The sky was a golden color, the clouds a familiar pink color while the sun was burning red. It was a very pretty sight to behold despite the fact that two of them were seated in a graveyard.

"You know..." Hiei began after awhile, "in this time line we weren't just "acquaintances". We were more than that." Hotaru felt her face flush...that would explain the intimate hug from before.

"I see..." she replied, "Can you...tell me how I died in this time line? I know it's pretty morbid but knowing about it might help me get back to my original time line."

The fire demon sighed, leaning his back against the tree's trunk, "Are you sure it's a story you want to hear?" Hotaru nodded at him. This Hiei felt like a completely different person. "Alright then...follow me." he said, a grim smile on his face. He pushed off the tree trunk to a standing position and held out a hand to help her up. She took it without question and allowed him to lead her off through the cemetery, a good idea about where he was leading her.

After a short walk, the two of them came to stand before a grave marker with a crematory pot situated at its base. It was little unnerving to be standing in front of your own grave, especially when your ashes were present as well.

"After you left me, when we were kids, I went off to find Yukina. It actually wasn't too long that we met up afterward since Yukina decided to leave the floating island as soon as she could. After that, we spent some time together in Makai before heading to the human world. The two of us were still pretty young when we got here...so I guess basically to any humans who saw us we just looked like normal children. I found us shelter and food to eat and went off to explore; we'd always been told humans were pretty stupid creatures but this world looked interesting enough. It wasn't very long after that that I ended up meeting you...as a kid. You looked exactly as you did that day we met, almost as if you hadn't aged a day." Hotaru blushed and turned her eyes, wondering if she should tell him about Pluto's deceptive illusions, but then decided against it.

"You ended up playing with a group of kids and wandered into the street. I had to push you out of the way of that monster made of metal before you got hurt."

Hotaru giggled, "Do you mean a car?"

"I didn't know what it was called at that time, okay?" he admitted, crossing his arms, "It just looked bad so I saved you. You and I became friends after that and we kept in almost constant contact with one another. I took you to meet Yukina. But you never took to me your parents."

"Well, if things are still the same...my mother was trapped inside of our house after it caught on fire. I lived with my dad after that and he was a scientist so he was always busy with work."

Hiei nodded, "And it was that work of his that killed you."

"What do you mean?"

"You were only 12 human years when it happened. I didn't see you at all that day but I ended up finding out about it. You and your father were in his lab when an explosion happened and destroyed the building."

"Oh right, that happened in my timeline too! But after that, I was brought back to life because my body was possessed by a daimon monster called Mistress 9. It's kind of sad but without the Deathbusters I wouldn't be..." Hotaru stopped with a gasp, "That's how I died? In that explosion?" Hiei nodded and she brought a hand to her mouth, her mind running wild with ideas and scenarios. If she had died here, then there were no Deathbusters and the heart snatchers had never come to Earth...maybe the Tau Star System never existed in the first place? But if that were true, then that meant...she never met Chibi-Usa or Pluto and because of that she never became a senshi. She was never Sailor Saturn in this timeline to begin with...or was she? Had she simply killed the spirit of both Saturn and herself when the explosion happened, or had Saturn's spirit inhabited a different body? Oooh, it made her head hurt...

"Hotaru, are you alright?" With his sharp reflexes, he managed to catch the faltering girl as she clutched at her head. She weakly slid her hand down her face, "Y-Yeah, I'll be fine...just give me a minute."

If she'd never become Saturn, then she and Pluto had never met. If Pluto had no idea who she was then...how on Earth was she going to go back to her own time line?

* * *

_**A/N: Oh gosh, please be gentle...I know this is confusing as crap but it always is whenever you start really getting into time line jumping things. However, I shall write a quick summary at the end of this chapters (possibly for future ones too if they end up being confusing little things like this one). A = original time line, B= new time line**_

_**Summary: Hotaru goes back approximately 10 years in the past to find Hiei and change his future by letting him know that he has a friend, that he has to keep his hiruseki stone safe, and that he must find his sister, Yukina. She has Pluto disguise her as a child, and manages to convince Hiei by telling him all about her time line (or timeline A). Afterward, the time pocket she's in grows unstable and she's forced to leave it, knowing that it could very well be the last time she even sees Hiei. When she wakes up, Hotaru finds herself in the new time line (or timeline B) and quickly goes off to find everyone...only everyone has changed (Kayko and Yusuke are no longer friends, the Kuwabara siblings never moved to town, and Kurama never left Makai). Eventually, Yukina appears and says she has the strangest urge to speak with Hotaru even though she has no idea who she is (Yukina has a vague idea, only because Hotaru has spoken with Yukina in another time line before. This is not always a certain process since Kayko had no idea who she was). Upon discovering who Hotaru is, Yukina sends her in the direction of the nearby cemetery to find her brother Hiei. When Hotaru gets there, Hiei is shocked to see her and hugs her. She recalls to him the same story she told him when they first met as children and how she has to get home to her original time line (A). She ultimately learns that in this time line (B), she and Hiei met again in the human world and became extremely good friends, and that she died during the explosion in her father's lab; meaning she was never resurrected by the Deathbusters and never met the senshi. (Hotaru was 12 at the time of her death)**_


End file.
